By Chuks Eke
Irked by incessant encroachment on landed properties belonging to government, Onitsha South Local Government Council in Anambra state has vowed to recover all government properties fraudulently appropriated by individuals or groups.
The council authorities expressed concern that
despite repeated warnings to steer clear of such properties,
some disgruntled elements are still busy allocation government lands to themselves at their whims and caprices.
Secretary to the council , Hon. Paul Onuachalla, made the vow while reacting to claims by an Onitsha based business man, Mr. Uzoeto Sabest, that the LG Mayor, Hon. Emeka Orji, demolished his Buildings at Silas Works road worth N600 million, despite having approval and Certificate of Occupancy, (C of O) of the demolished buildings.
Onuachalla, in a swift reaction to the claim of Sabest, stated that,” I’m reacting to the publication made by Uzoeto Sabest, asserting that, Onitsha South Local government demolished N600 million worth of business center belonging to him and a call to Mr Governor to intervene.
“First and foremost, the land in question is along Silas works road and this particular land is Council property fraudulently appropriated by individuals. We inherited the land as Transition Chairman and later elected”.
“Mr Uzoeto helpfully admitted that there have been series of invitations extended to him even prior notices before the repossession of the said land.
The reality is that the land rightly belongs to Onitsha South Local Government. There is sufficient evidence in support of our claim and, there are other properties equally involved that we are trying to recover”.
“The C of O he is referring to, ordinarily cannot cure bad title, if you have a bad title to a property, it remains a bad title regardless of having C of O or not, a bad title remains a bad title, C of O makes impression of a genuine property, yes, if the title for the land in question is bad, it remains bad, C of O cannot cure it”.
“When we countered him, we asked him number of questions, he admitted that the place in question is Primary Health Center and that he bought it from Hon. Chuma Nzeribe. He exhibited Deed of Assignment between himself and Chuma Nzeribe and this deed has no recital or provide any further details”.
“The other papers we saw was a letter from the then Governor Mbadinuju addressed to Chief Odii Umolu of 110 Awka Road Onitsha North LGA purportedly allocating the said land to him on 11th of May 2001. Shortly after, we have yet again another Deed of assignment between Uchenna S. Uzoeto and Chuma Nzeribe of 110 Awka Road Onitsha, Onitsha North LGA. We have Chuma Nzeribe living at same address 110 Awka Road Onitsha North Local government as Chief Odii Umolu”.
On the case being pending in court according to Sabest, the secretary said that the court case is between himself (Sabest and Chief Emeka Orji and not Onitsha South Local Government”.
“So, Onitsha South Local government is not a party to the said suit. Parties to the suit are Uchenna S. Uzoeto, as plaintiff and Emeka Orji and Anambra state government as defendants”.
“Onitsha South LG is not a party to this suit. He went and sued Chief Emeka Orji in a personal capacity which has nothing to do with the LG, Orji is purely a public servant , he is executing the resolution of the council and it is Onitsha South LG that took possession of her land fraudulently annexed by Uchenna S.Uzoeto and others, so where did we get it wrong?” .
“This is a case of Onitsha South LG seeking to recover her property. As far as I am aware, this is a case of fraudulent transaction whereby the LG is a victim of the fraudulent land transaction and Onitsha South LG under the able leadership of Chief Emeka Orji is poised to recover every inch of Onitsha South LG property fraudulently annexed by any individual no matter how highly placed that individual is. We are recovering every pin that has taken away from us” he further vowed.
He consequently appealed to the general public who want to own a land, to conduct due diligence do not just depend on going to land Registry but do their locus inquest, find out the land, what is it for, who owns it before, how did it come about, is it by inheritance or by allocation, check every paper, because someone in one way or the other mislead the Land Registry Authority and get a land registered”.
“This is the problem we are facing in Niger Street whereby somebody converted Ndem Ndem market to private property and somebody issued him a C of O,” he disclosed.
In her contribution, on the land saga, Mrs Grace Anekwe, Chairman, Board of Trustees, BoT, Woliwo Welfare Association, Onitsha South, stated that the original purpose of the land in question is for primary health center which was there when former governor Chukwuemeka Ezeife (Okwadike) was rounding up his regime and Mbadinuju, his successor, coming in.
” I am not against LG demolition of the land, let public thing that would benefit the public be sighted there, what I would be against is allocating it to another person instead of the natural owner of the land”, she posited.
