…file multiple suits against Govt.
…accuse traditional ruler of alleged complicity, misleading govt.
Following claims and counter claims over ownership status of the OTULAOGWUGWU land in Emeke Agbala as to whether it belongs to Imo state government or still in possession of the ancestral owners, a group under the aegis of ” Emeke Agbala Land Owners Association” has dismissed recent publication in the ‘Trumpeta’ Newspaper of Tuesday 26th November 2024 where it quoted that elders and the traditional ruler of the community claimed that the land belongs to Imo State government through an MOU signed by some people from Emeke Agbala representing five kindreds in 2018. The group faulted the reportage as lacking in substance and balance for not getting the views of the real land owners and also queried why the identities of the so called elders who said the land belonged to government were not disclosed. Describing this as a well crafted and deliberate manipulation to pitch government against the people of Emeke Agbala in order for some highly placed people in the community to cover their ignominious roles in the unfortunate fake acquisition enterprise, the group asked Mr Nwakamma and Hon Bede Eke to bend backwards and hear the true story and the game being played with the land, lest they are messed up. The land, the group insisted, can not be acquired by government without the rightful owners’ endorsement through their duly appointed Attorney. What happened, according to the Association was a plot by some land grabbers to reap where they did not sow, who conspired with some locals to forcefully steal their land, having failed in many communities in Owerri West and Owerri North LGAs. The land owners are vehement that nothing will stop them from using every lawful means to secure their land and ensure that they obtained restitution for their properties destroyed. They restated and emphasised that the OTULAOGWUGWU land is not a communal land but family ancestral lands on which the owners have been farming for years without hindrance. In a release by the group, they referenced some acquisitions done in other parts of the community by property developers, noting that the transactions, being businesses of individuals were conducted as such, priced and purchased.
The land owners Association therefore advised Mr Nwakamma and Hon Bede Eke to leave Hon Dan Ikpeazu alone in the matter of the land, questioning why they have focused on attacking the former lawmaker who has a constitutional right to demand explanation about what is happening in his community. Hon Ikpeazu, they maintained, “has represented Agbala/Ulakwo Ward as Councillor, Owerri North state constituency of twenty one (21) autonomous communities in the state Assembly, and as a two time Special Adviser to the Governor, what makes him less qualified to represent his community, especially in a situation of this nature, where it is obvious that some people are misrepresenting facts with intention to defraud our people and put us into hardship”, they queried.
“Hon Ikpeazu is our Son that we trust and rely on for his principles, his honesty and philanthropy. We cannot sit by and watch anybody blackmail him for selfish gains”, they said.
Meanwhile the Association has disassociated itself from the MoU purportedly issued by persons they described as deficit of title to any land in the area prior to the so called MoU or after, having publicly repudiated their signatures and denounced their involvement in what they termed a fraudulent business. To demonstrate their resolve and assert they did not surrender their land to government, about thirty land owners from different families have headed to court against Mr Nwakamma Paschal, Hon Bede Eke, Ministry of Lands, the Governor, and the Attorney General of the state to stop the purported acquisition. Further more, the land owners Association have blamed the traditional ruler of the community for his poor handling of the matter. They expressed regret that instead of bringing the entitled land owners and the government to a round table to resolve the issue, he is misleading the government by pushing a defective MoU which cannot bind the land owners because those who issued it lack capacity, being persons not owning land in the area and not having the mandate of the land owners to represent them in the transaction. According to the group, they are prompted by the respect they have for their traditional ruler to avoid revealing his certain acts which are complicating the issue and called on him to arise and protect his people or they bring damning evidence against him about his role.
It will be recalled that the land acquisition saga began during the administration of Owelle Rochas Okorocha when the then Commissioner for Housing, Chief Tony Umezurike brought a developer called HOME OPTION DEVELOPMENT LIMITED and through the traditional ruler, a few persons were gathered at the Palace and cajoled to sign a document which was later renamed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). It was revealed that the estate developer presented them a cow and #1m cash to induce them to sign the document. Interestingly, majority of the persons that signed the document didn’t own any land in the affected area. Secondly, they were deceived to sign as kindred representatives when in actual fact the land does not belong to kindreds but families. Since the attempted forceful take over of the land in 2018, the owners had fought back through the courts till date to show their disapproval of the purported acquisition. While maintaining their stand of dissent, the land owners have challenged those who are importing the name of government into the private scheme to produce evidence of acquisition by government through briefs of negotiation with land owners to documents of payment of compensation as required by law. They dismissed the one page paper of the so called MoU being bandied about as untenable and not in tandem with the requirement for acquiring ancestral land owned by several families.
