In a shocking tale of institutional betrayal, a Fellow of the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors, Surv. Chief Raphael C. Chukwu, has narrated how his fight to protect his legitimately acquired property in Ugwuaji, Enugu, led to his incarceration, a gunpoint robbery of his equipment, and the eventual seizure of his land by government officials operating through a private company.
The saga, which began in 2012 as a professional surveying contract with the Umunnugwu and Ndiaga villages, has morphed into a complex case of land racketeering that ensnared top officials of the Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi administration and now, according to documents, features close allies of Governor Peter Mbah.
A Contract and the Seeds of Conflict
In 2012, the Umunnugwu and Ndiaga villages of Ugwuaji approached Chukwu’s firm, KOR Surveying and Investment Company Ltd, for a private partnership to survey and map their ancestral land. Under the agreement, the firm would be paid with 185 plots for carrying out the work on 1,006 plots .
By 2019, physical development of layouts like Umunnugwu/Ndiaga, Achionaa, and Valley Layout was in full swing. However, the peace was shattered when members of Isiagu village—claiming ownership—began encroaching on Chukwu’s 96 plots. The situation escalated violently.
“The land grabbers, led by Messrs Maduabuchi Egbo and Chidiebere Joseph Okorie, swooped on my workers with shotguns and made away with my Total Station [surveying equipment],” Chukwu recounted. The equipment was returned only on condition that he relinquished his claims. He refused.
This refusal set in motion a chain of events that he describes as a “grand plot” to silence him.
A Cascade of Police Arrests and A Controversial Magistrate
The land grabbers, frustrated by Chukwu’s resistance, allegedly deployed the machinery of state power against him. They wrote counter-petitions to the police, and he was arrested by the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) in Abuja on June 10, 2020, on false allegations of cultism.
But the most dangerous move came next. “On September 11, 2020, I was re-arrested by Federal SARS and charged to an Enugu Magistrate Court for murder, alongside my clients. My accusers were the very suspects I had petitioned the police against,” he stated. The case file presented was a photocopy.
Magistrate L.O.C. Nwebiem remanded him in Enugu Prison, despite the Enugu State Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) rejecting the photocopied case file as inadmissible. Chukwu claims the magistrate, perhaps under government influence, adjourned the case repeatedly, keeping him and his co-defendants in custody while awaiting an “original file” that never appeared.
The standoff ended only when ACP Simon Lough (SAN) from the Force Legal Unit, Abuja, appeared in court on November 2, 2020, to withdraw the charge, stating the police never authorized it. Despite this, Magistrate Nwebiem refused to withdraw the case, adjourning it sine-die (indefinitely) .
Chukwu was finally released on December 16, 2020, by the End-SARS Tribunal, which discharged him unconditionally .
A Private Company and the “Acquisition” of Land
While Chukwu was in detention, the state’s Ministry of Housing began advertising his 185 plots as part of the “New Enugu Layout,” selling them to the public. The Ministry of Lands swiftly published a disclaimer, stating it had acquired the land.
The official mechanism for this takeover was an Administrative Panel of Inquiry set up by Governor Ugwuanyi in August 2020, chaired by James Ikeyi (SAN) . Chukwu submitted his claims (Memo No. 187), but when the panel’s report was published, his memo was missing, replaced by another claimant’s.
By December 2021, the Ugwuanyi administration invited “genuine buyers” and informed them they could reclaim their plots by paying 50% of the market price—a staggering N3,700,100 per plot—to a private company, Coal City Eastern Extension Estate Alliance Ltd.
The Official Company
Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) documents reveal that Coal City Eastern Extension Estate Alliance Ltd was incorporated on December 29, 2021 . Its founding directors included high-ranking Ugwuanyi officials: the SSG, Prof. Simon Ortuanya; Commissioner for Housing, Vitus Okechi; and the Head of Service, Chukwuegbo Kenneth, among others .
More alarming for Chukwu is the continuity under the current administration. Investigations by SaharaReporters show that the company’s directors were changed after Governor Peter Mbah assumed office. They now include Mbah’s SSG, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia; the Commissioner for Housing, Dr. Chukwunweike Martin Ogochukwu; and other top appointees .
The Enugu State Government defends this by stating these officials are only “nominal shareholders” acting as trustees for the state in a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) . However, Chukwu argues this is a disguise for a fraudulent takeover: “Government does not acquire land except in public interest… it was robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
Unpaid Bill and An Active Probe
The former governor’s role is further questioned by Chukwu’s claim that he was directed by Governor Ugwuanyi’s aide, Mr. Chijioke Nwodo (a.k.a Stainless), to carve out 100 plots in the layout for the governor’s personal use. “The survey work was completed on May 1, 2020… Governor Ugwuanyi is yet to settle my bill of N1,200,000,” Chukwu said.
Meanwhile, the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) has revived its investigation into the Enugu land scandal following a SaharaReporters’ exposé and has invited Chukwu, along with other petitioners, to testify . Chukwu’s lawyer, Prof. John Daniel, confirmed the invitation, stating his client has waited over two years for this interview .
Chukwu, who is still recovering from the physical and economic toll of his ordeal, remains hopeful. “The purported acquisition did not follow due process… The law shall take its course sooner than later. Offenders shall never go unpunished!”
