The problem between the host communities and the Federal University of Technology Owerri, FUTO, over a portion of land meant for a Housing Estate, assumed a new dimension at an Owerri High Court presided over by Justice M B Ukoha, as the Counsel to the defendants; FUTO, Imo Govt and others, Mrs Adindu claimed that her office was not served with notice of court.
When the matter came up at Owerri High Court 6 presided over by Justice M B Ukoha, yesterday Jan 29, 2014, the plaintiffs; the host communities, were represented by Enechi Oyan, SAN and Ken Njemanze, SAN.
The host communities are Ihiagwa, Avu, Dindi Ihiagwa, Eziobodo, Obinze, Umuanunu, Okolochi, Obibi Ezena, and Emeabiam. The plaintiffs are Emmanuel Onyeubi and others.
In the suit HOW/7722/2013, the communities are praying the court to restrain the Defendants FUTO, from encroaching or doing business in a portion of land which it has earmarked for “development of a Housing estate for sale to the General Public”.
The Plaintiffs went on to state that the said land has been in conflict between FUTO and its host communities for long, which could not be resolved with intervention of Government organs like Federal Ministry of Education, Federal Ministry of Lands, House and Urban Development and others.
In his ruling, Hon Justice Ukoha gave an interim order restraining FUTO access to the said land pending the court injunction, while the status quo remains.
The matter will resume on March 25, 2014.
In a related development, individual land owners at Umuodu and Umuodagu Mbieri Layout situated near Rochas Estate, opposite Ibeto Hotels in Mbaitoli Local Government Area, near the state capital has raised alarm over alleged plan by the state governor to forcibly take possession over the portion of land measuring about three square kilometers.
The owners of the plots/land that are undeveloped and developed numbering more than fifty are alleging that in September 2013, the governor started the annexation by reportedly brushing and bulldozing the whole of the land/plots with a view to converting it to part of his Rochas Estate.
According to a statement made available to Trumpeta, the land owners alleged that “on September, the governor using of the government agents OCDA mounted a sign post in the land as a means of deceiving people. With this now, Rochas Estate has direct access to Amakohia Orji Owerri Expressway with the planted sign post inscribed “proposed site for Millennium Parks and Gardens”
“However, what is going on today is different from what was inscribed in the OCDA signpost as it has turned from a government property to extension of private estate”
The landowners in the statement while crying fowl over the development questioned the rationale behind the act since Okorocha claims to be people friendly and always describes Imolites as “my people, my people”.
“Our land which we have for years before he became governor was neither in contention nor designated as Garden Park as being redesigned by government. The Umuodu/Umuodagu Mbieri layout has not been and if, there are processes and legal rule for government to acquire land. Even at that, should government acquire a property and hand it over to an individual at the expense of majority of the masses”
The people however requested Imolites to wade into the matter and impress on the commissioner for lands who happens to be governors, son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, to inculcate sanity in the course of discharging his duties.
