Encroachers on various Wetlands in Arua district have asked the National Environment Management Authority [NEMA] to compensate them before they are evicted.
NEMA has ordered the encroachers to voluntary vacate the Wetlands by the end of this month or risk being forced out.
Henry Leku, one of the encroacher's claims that he has been staying on the land he is being ordered to vacate for 25 years, where he has a permanent.
Leku claims that he bought the land from Arua Municipal council and should therefore be compensated before he leaves.
Leku says that he has evidence proving his ownership of the land and will drag NEMA to court if he is evicted without compensation.
Abdallatif Tiyoa one of the encroachers on River Osu wetland in Mvara says he is waiting for NEMA's course of action at the end of the month.
Tiyoa believes, those pushing for their eviction are driven by greed to acquire the land for themselves.
Tiyoa has vowed to mobilize residents against the NEMA officials if anybody attempts to come and forcefully evict them.
In Ediofe, one of the residents Luke Onzima blames the LCs and NEMA officials in the district for failing to advice them when they were buying land.
According to Onzima, the notice of eviction issued by NEMA can easily spark off problems because many of them have families and are not ready to leave.
Onzima says that they will not leave peacefully unless compensated. But Edward Odipio, Arua district environment officer says that the eviction notice has to be enforced.
He says by the beginning of next month they are not going to accept people to settle 50 meters inside the wetlands. Odipio says that their persistent reminders to the encroachers to leave the wetland have been ignored.
