July 8, 2025
By Ayinde Adeleke
Concerned Igbo groups have issued a strong warning against the implementation of the Ruga project in the Southeast region, describing it as a form of reverse colonization and a private business disguised as a government policy.
The groups, which include the Ambassador for Self-Determination USA, American Veterans of Igbo Descent, Rising Sun Group, and others, argue that the project would have devastating consequences for the region.
“We the concerned people of Igbo land have said it before and we are saying it again, there is no land for RUGA anywhere in Igbo land—not today, not tomorrow, not ever,” the groups stated.
“If the government is serious about ranching, let them go to Niger State, which has over 76,000 square kilometres of land — far more than the whole of the Southeast put together.”
The groups expressed concerns over the security implications of the project, citing the recent violence and carnage in Benue State.
They also pointed out that the Lokpanta cattle market in Abia State has become a hotbed of crime, kidnapping, and killings, and warned that the Ruga project would only exacerbate these problems.
“We will resist it with everything in us,” the groups declared. “RUGA is not about peace or development. It is a private business disguised as a government policy.
“It is a hidden plan to take over our ancestral lands and hand them to Fulani settlers, using agriculture as an excuse.”
The groups called on Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo to tread with caution and stop any further negotiations with regards to the Ruga project.
“Stop playing with Igbo lives. Stop negotiating with our blood. You were not elected to sell our land or our future,” they warned.
“We also call on all governors and politicians in the Southeast who may have collected ₦6billion each as bribe to support this RUGA project — return the blood money now.
“The people are watching. History will remember. And there will be no hiding place for anyone who betrays Igbo land.” the group said.
The groups emphasized that they are not against livestock business, but reject any plan that would turn the Igbo people into strangers in their own land.
“What we reject is a plan that will turn us into strangers on our own land, where outsiders come, settle, multiply, and eventually take over our communities. That is reverse colonisation, and we will never allow it.”
