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By Chukwudi Nweje
The tranquility in Obinagu community, Ugwuoba, Oji River Local Government Area of Enugu State, was ruptured on October 20, 2021.
Elders of the otherwise peaceful community accused the Enugu State Housing Development Corporation (ESHDC) of trying to forcefully take over their ancestral Ani Oma Obinagu Ogboo land for the construction of the Ibrahim Abacha Estate, Ugwuoba.
They, therefore, threatened to invoke the wrath of their ancestral gods on the developer and anyone who trespasses on the land. They warned that those that do not heed the warning risk afflictions that include collateral financial damage, among other health challenges, courtesy of their gods.
The elders, including Boniface Igweze, 96, Kenneth Nwangwu, 95, Dominic Anochili, 92, Chukwuma Ndibe, 85, Chief Daniel Okeke, 79, Pius Madubuchi, 75, David Ndubuisi, 70, and Samuel Nnebeife, 67, among others, alleged that property worth several millions of naira, including houses, cash crops, farmland and ancestral deities have been destroyed in the area. They urged Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to intervene by calling ESHDC, to order in the interest of peace and humanity.
The elders said the community has restrained their youths from taking the law into their hands in the face of provocation, and warned that they do not know how much longer they would be able to keep the youths from revolting. They asked the state government to ask the ESHDC to suspend development on the land, pending a case instituted in court by the community.
It was gathered that the Enugu State High Court, Oji River Judicial Division, on December 22, 2021, in suit number HOR/41/2021 between Fabian Anyaka and Madubuchi Onyeka and four others, on behalf of Obinagu village Ugwuoba and Enugu State Housing Development Corporation and Chiemerie Agu, the managing director, Enugu State Housing Development Corporation, ordered that the status quo ante bellum be maintained. The court, presided over by Hon Justice C.V.C. Ezeugwu, adjourned to January 25, 2022, for motion on notice after hearing the submission of O.C. Ugolo for the plaintiff/applicant.
Chairman, Obinagu village, Onyeka Madubuchi, lamented that despite the court order for the status quo to remain, the community woke up on the morning of October 20, 2021, to discover that construction work was going on on the land.
He said: “Despite the pending contempt proceedings, ESHDC, without the consent and/or approval of the people of Obinagu village, have entered into the Ani Oma land for the second time to resume construction works, preparatory to allocation to members of the general public. Our people are worried that, in spite of the huge damage land grabbing has caused in Enugu State with its attendant crisis, divisions and violence, ESHDC is hell-bent on pitting the good people of Obinagu village against the Enugu State Government.”
Long-disputed land
Madubuchi traced the genesis of the problem on the Ani Oma Obinagu Ogboo land, located along Enugu-Onitsha Express Road, to years of dispute with their neighbours, Agolo/Okpuno communities, all in Oji River LGA, dating back as far as 1992.
He said Agolo/Okpuno communities made several unsuccessful attempts in the past to dispossess them of the land, which resulted in a series of court cases, all of which were resolved in favour of Obinagu community.
He said: “There have been unsuccessful attempts in the past by the people of Agolo/Okpuno communities in Ugwuoba, Oji River to forcefully take over the Ani Oma land, which made Obinagu community to file an action in court against Agolo/Okpuno communities in Suit No. ORCC/18/98 – Rev. Cannon Dr. J.O. Iloeje & 2 Others V. Innocent Ezeokafor & 6 Others. It is instructive to note that the court held that the people of Obinagu village, the plaintiffs in the matter, are entitled to the customary right of occupancy over the land. The court further made an order of perpetual injunction restraining the people of Agolo/Okpuno communities (defendants) their agents, servants and/or privies from further entry into the said Ani Oma land.
“On appeal to the Court of Appeal, Enugu Judicial Division, in appeal no. CA/E/177M/99, set aside the decision of the Enugu State High Court delivered by Hon. Justice A.I. Umezuluike and affirmed the judgement of the customary court Oji River, which held that the Obinagu people are the valid owners of the land.”
He said ESHDC acquired the land from Agolo/Okpuno communities and signed a deed of agreement while the dispute was in court and did not apply to be joined in the matter, while the court case lingered, knowing that the outcome will could affect them.
Madubuchi further said: “While the dispute over the Ani Oma land between Obinagu village and Agolo/Okpuno communities, which started as far back as 1992 lingered on, and to the knowledge of ESHDC, the corporation contrived a deed of customary grant where they purported to have acquired the Ani Oma land in dispute from Agolo/Okpuno communities who are themselves trespassers per the judgement of the Enugu State Customary Court and as upheld by the Court of Appeal.
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“Interestingly, despite knowing that the validity or otherwise of their title over the Ani Oma land rested on the outcome of the then-pending suit between Obinagu and Agolo/Okpuno communities on the question of which of the villages is the valid owner of the land in dispute, ESHDC failed and/or ignored to apply to be joined in the case as an interested party. Rather, it stood by, and watch the parties lock horns on the issue until it was resolved in favour of Obinagu Community up to the Court of Appeal.”
Madubuchi said the ESHDC is a privy of Agolo/Okpuno communities and should stay away from Ani Oma land as ordered by the court.
“ESHDC, by electing to stand by instead of applying to join as a party in the then-pending suit is deemed to have accepted to be bound by the outcome of the suit. This is because, being privies to the Agolo/Okpuno villages from whence it purported to have acquired its title over the disputed Ani Oma land, by virtue of the deed of customary grant, the corporation is by law not only bound by the judgements and orders made by the courts in the suits but also by the order of perpetual injunction which restrained her landlord or grantors from further entry on Ani Oma land,” he said.
Obinagu petitions state government
In a petition dated November 30, 2021, to Gov Ugwuanyi, through the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Miletus Ezugworie Eze, Obinagu village condemned ESHDC’s encroachment on Ani oma land, even in the face of the court restraining order.
Their counsel, Okechukwu C. Ugolo, said that by virtue of the judgement in suit number ORCC/18/98: Rev Canon Dr J.O Iloeje and two others versus Innocent Ezeokafor and 6 others, that Ani oma land belongs to Obinagu, thus not the property of Agolo/Okpuno communities with whom the ESHDC signed a deed.
The community in the petition also prayed Ugwuanyi and the attorney general to ask ESHDC to steer clear of their land, pending when the right things are done and insisted that the presence of ESHDC on the land is unlawful, amounting to trespass.
Madubuchi said the ESHDC wrote Obinagu community a letter in 2014 seeking to reacquire the land and acknowledged that it erred in signing the deed with Agolo/Okpuno communities and expressed interest to re-acquire the land from Obinagu village.
He said: “On realising the position of the law and being at the time, under the leadership of a managing director who is God-fearing and law-abiding, the ESHDC via a letter dated November 10, 2014 wrote to Obinagu village acknowledging that the land belongs to Obinagu village and that her dealings with Agolo/Okpuno villages regarding the land are denounced and declared null and void. The corporation thereafter solicited to re-acquire the land from Obinagu village but could not finalise their friendly approach with Obinagu village before the tenure of the then executives expired.”
ESHDC reacts
Managing director of ESHDC, Agu, however, said the Ani oma land was acquired before his time in the corporation. He said the land was duly and diligently acquired by the Enugu State Government in 1995, by the then military administration of Col Lucky Mike Torey and ceded to the ESHDC, with certificate of occupancy (C of O) dated June 6,1996, issued to ESHDC.
He said: “I wonder why they did not do any thing about the development almost 26 years ago when the land was acquired. They also did not go to court. Development was also started on the land by the administration of Col Torey.”
Agu noted that when he came on board ESHDC, he tried to continue with the discussions already started by his predecessor but that Obinagu people preferred to take the matter to court.
He added: “Enugu State government that acquired the land and gave to ESHDC. I am not aware whether they were compensated, it was before my time. But, when I came in, I noticed that my predecessor had been discussing with them, we decided that even if they have been compensated that we will compensate them again. But the issue is who do we compensate, there are about three or four communities involved in this matter. We called them, including their lawyer and told them we are ready to settle all the communities involved equally. They all agreed to the proposal except Obinagu that said they are going to court. They said that they own 88.9 hectares of the 150 hectares and that they should be settled based on that. We are not against their going to court, we have told them to go to court and whoever wins should then come and be compensated.”
Agu said the community is pushing an agenda to stall the development of the project the state government tasked ESHDC with.
“What these people are trying to do is to stall us from conducting the development we are contracted to do. I suspect they are pursuing an agenda”, the ESHDC managing director said.
