Delta Community Drag State Government To Court Over Breach Of Settlement On Land Acquisition

Idumugbe Village in Umuonaje Quarters of Asaba; Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State have dragged the State Government to court over an alleged breach of settlement processes in the Ani-Ulor land acquisition.

It was earlier reported that officials of the state government had embarked on a demolition exercise on the said land situated along the Asaba-Ughelli expressway.

Consequently, the community; represented by Ogbueshi Kashie Umunna and five others approached the Asaba Division of the Delta State High Court against the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Case Number; A/147/14.

The case, presided over by Justice G.B Briki-Okolosi, was however scheduled for hearing on December 5, 2022, after counsel for the state government made contrary arguments against claims made by the community.

Meanwhile, the representative of the Idumugbe Village Head, (Onu Diokpa), Ogbueshi (Engr, Eugene Umunna, had earlier revealed that the community has a 1970 and 1978 judgment of the Supreme Court over the contended land.

Ogbueshi Umunna said that the community had a Writ of Possession dated 1976 as well as a Warrant of Possession dated May 2004. Among other documents to prove ownership, Ogbueshi Umunna said that the community also has a court injunction on the Akwu-Ulor land.

While revealing the position of the government over the issue, Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, explained that the state government acquired the contended land for developmental purposes in the interest of the public.

According to him ‘’In the course of time, previous administrations acquired several lands for the purposes of expanding government/developmental activities, and compensation was paid in some instances, while other compensations were ongoing.

‘’That, having been done, you do not expect that the government will develop all acquired lands at once. In the cause of time, we saw the need to return some of the lands to the communities for them to partner with us in development.

‘’Therefore, part of these lands were de-acquired and handed back to the communities. Some of the lands that were not in that category were left to enable the government to carry out future development.

‘’But individuals saw that because the government did not go into the lands immediately to carry out developmental plans, they decided to enter, perhaps believing that the government has forgotten the land. And the government said ‘’No’’.

‘’What is happening now is that there are individuals who thought that they could, in one way or the other, come back to that land that has already been acquired by the state government.

‘’I challenge those who claim to have properties in the said area to present the plan approved by the government to claim their legitimacy…. Let them also show the litigation map. So, we plead with our brothers and sisters to take it easy.

‘’The state government is not acquiring lands because we want to share it, but for the purposes of development and that was why it was acquired abinitio. We plead with our brothers to see reasons why the right thing should be done.

‘’As a government, we will not be a party to anything that would look oppressive to our people because we have enjoyed their cooperation in bringing development, particularly in the capital territory. We see everybody as partners in progress’’.