BY SAM OTUONYE
Amankwo, a village in Inyi town, Oji River Local Government Area of Enugu State, has been thrown into mourning after one of its sons, Mr. Chinonso Amaka, was killed by unknown gunmen at a coal mining site on October 1, 2025, which was Nigeria’s 65th Independence Day.
According to a villager, trouble began about a year ago when the Commissioner for Chieftaincy and Rural Development, Enugu State, Deacon Okey Ogbodo, invited all Igwes and PGs to discuss the government’s plan to unlock dormant mineral assets in the state. He advised that the villagers be ready to interface with any company that comes from the government. Thereafter, a company known as the Enugu State Mineral Resources Company Limited came to Amankwo which led to the setting up of a three-man Coal Mining Committee to ensure their interests were protected in the Community Development Agreement (CDA) with the government.
The committee collected the official template for the CDA and interfaced with the government in drafting the agreement. The CDA was read and explained to the village people at the Ekwueme Hall of the village.
However, the villagers expressed dissatisfaction with their leaders agreement with the government, claiming they were not adequately carried along, even as the first batch of the mining activities have also caused significant damage to the village’s infrastructure, including the destruction of their main road to the center of the town by the large coal conveying trucks, destruction of the house of a villager and the pollution of the Odu river by the excavations, the source narrated.
The source further stated that after the killing of the indigene by unknown gun men, villagers marched in anger and protest to their Igwe, HRH Igwe Ignatius Okpara, and over 20 kilometers to the local government Secretariat to lay their demands to the local government chairman, Mr. Greg Chijioke Anyaegbudike.
The villagers are demanding that the coal mining be stopped and the proceeds from the CDA be used to repair the road and compensate the family of the deceased. The murderers of Mr. Amaka have not been found, and the villagers are clamouring for justice, even as the proceeds of the first batch of mining was yet to be deposited.
Historically, coal was discovered in Inyi in 1911, and the recorded discovery in Amankwo was in the 1950s.
The attempts to mine Amankwo coal have been ongoing for over 15 years, but the current effort has been met with resistance from the villagers.
The situation remains tense, and the villagers are awaiting response from the government regarding their demands, the source stated.
