The Okpuno community in Awka South local government area of Anambra State has threatened to drag some staff of the State Ministry of Lands and others to court or Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly trespassing into their land without following a due process.
The community, which also demanded for a sum of five hundred million naira damages from encroachers into the land, lamented that forcefully taking over their land had caused them loss of Economic trees, trauma and other untold hardships.
A legal practitioner and Counsel to the community, Mr Mike Ikegbunem, who made the call in an interview after a meeting with the Public Petitions committee of Anambra state House of Assembly, explained that the land was first taken over from them during the tenure of governor Chukwuemeka Ezeife but was later reversed by governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju led administration.
“My clients upon the return of their land started exerting their ownership through farming and other activities. But sometimes in 2016, some men encroached onto the land to deface it claiming that they had obtained a C of O (certificate of occupancy) from the state ministry of lands. They are using these purported C of O they obtained from the ministry of land to intimidate, build and do other things on the land.
” My clients are saying that they don’t know them. They are not saying that the government cannot take over a land for override interest. But they are saying that due process must be followed. The due process is assuming but not considering that the government takes over the land for override interest of the masses, it must be properly documented and gazetted. Then, the owners should be duly notified and paid compensation. But none of these requirements were met yet people are defacing our land,” he added.
He urged the state house of Assembly to conduct discrete investigation into the land issue, inform law enforcement agents not to work with anyone brandishing C of O of the land, stop people from defacing the land, and to mandate the ministry to quickly come to settle their boundary issues with some neighbouring villages in Awka.
Earlier in a committee meeting, the Anambra State Commissioner for Lands, Mr Bonaventure Enemali, claimed that a compensation fee of seven million, five hundred and seventy six thousand naira was paid to the community by the state government.
The Chairman of the state House of Assembly Committee on Public Petition, Hon. Emeka Aforka, also during the meeting, directed the State Ministry of Lands to come along with all relevant documents concerning the disputed land in the next adjournment day, assuring that they would do their possible best to bring justice to it.
