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Judex Okoro, Calabar
Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State and the Nigerian Navy appear to be at daggers drawn over an acre of land located in Calabar metropolis.
The Navy recently pulled down their officers’ mess on the land in order to erect a hotel, but the state government is said to have warned the Navy against it, insisting that the land belongs to the state government.
It was learnt that the government had advised the Navy not to go on with the construction work as the land in contention is theirs and ordered that the land be cordoned.
On getting wind of this, Navy was said to have deployed armed personnel to guard against state government officials intruding or taking over the disputed land.
Reacting, the state Commissioner for Information, Comrade Asu Okang, said the Navy has no legal right to the land, adding that it had on several occasions taken over some acres of lands within Calabar metropolis and even beyond.
Okang said: “The land on which the Nigerian Navy is attempting to erect its hotel does not belong to it. It belongs to Cross River State government. It was a onetime military administrator of the state, Navy Captain Ibim Princewill, who put up an official guest house for his personal guests.
“When he left, because he was naval personnel, navy authorities began to occupy it and subsequently claimed it. But the laws are very clear about ownership of lands.
“In Calabar, the Navy has taken over many lands for its facilities. Some of these, especially those that surround the governor’s official residence and his office, tend to have compromised the governor’s security.
“For the Navy to deploy armed personnel to guard the land is uncalled for. It is overbearing. The state is not a banana republic that should be ruled with arms,” he stated.
Explaining that even if Navy has Certificate of Occupancy (CofC) for this land in question, the constitution grants the governor the powers overall lands as he has “the power to revoke any C of O.”
Sources at the naval headquarters who craved anonymity said it was not true that Navy had drawn any battle line with the Cross River State government.
“We have a good working relationships with the state government. We have established many of our facilities in Calabar, including schools, war college, high-class reference hospital etc. That there are many armed naval personnel there is because we have our top naval officers coming to inspect some facilities.”
