A wave of jubilation swept across Uvwie Local Government Area in Delta State on Monday when an Effurun High Court delivered a resounding verdict, pronouncing the Nigerian Army‘s purported acquisition of portions of Ohore 1 community land as invalid.
In the verdict for suit No. EHC/41/2014, Justice Roli-Daibo, the presiding judge, not only ruled on the case but also officially labeled the Nigerian Army’s intrusion onto Ohore 1 community land as “trespass.”
In the judgment, the judge imposed a N1 million fine on the Army, firmly stating that the Ohore people held the statutory right of occupancy for the entire land as specified in exhibit CL3.
The court case, brought forth by Mr. Godwin Imiruaye, Mr. Lucky Utebu, and Chief Julius Oghojamuni, on behalf of themselves and Ohore 1 community, involved legal action against the Nigerian Army, the Minister of Justice, and six others.
Chief Victor Otomiewo and his legal team, representing the claimants, brought the case to court, contending that, before the Land Use Act was promulgated, the claimants, as occupants of all land parcels in Ohore, were not part of any land acquired by the Army for the defendants’ use.
The plaintiffs, among others, also asked the court to declare that any acquisition of Ohore 1 land without due process and evidence of compliance with all the relevant laws and the constitution is null and void.
Read also: Nigerian Army In Niger Sans Senate’s Approval Treason – MBF
In the judgment, the court agreed with the claimants’ lawyers and restrained the Army from further trespassing on Ohore land.
Africa Today News, New York, learned that the land in question was acquired in 1975 by the Nigerian army from the then Midwestern State government via a letter with reference number NAE/2801/26/1/G.
The Army is said to have acquired the land for the purpose of establishing the Effurun Barracks we see today.
Local sources within the community asserted that despite the absence of the Land Use Act, which had not been promulgated during the land acquisition, families owning the land were reportedly denied compensation, a legal obligation at the time.
Following the completion of the barracks in 1979, a significant land portion remained unused for years. Instead of returning it to the land-dependent owners, reports indicate that some serving and retired Army Generals cleverly sold the land to investors and speculators, while leasing the rest to small-time traders in the Mammy Market.
The escalating land dispute crisis is traced back to the present selling price of the land, which is said to be unaffordable for the original owners, the people of Uvwie kingdom.
Emmanuel Sideso, Abe 1, the Ovie of Uvwie Kingdom, revealed that his people initially ceded a significant portion of land to the Army under the belief that the Federal Government intended to establish the main campus of the Nigerian Defence Academy, founded in 1964, in Effurun.
The monarch said, ‘We believe Army education will bring development to the community.’
‘But since the military academy was eventually located in Kaduna, the government decided to use the acquired land for the building of army barracks now known as 3 Battalion Barracks, Effurun. The total portion of land acquired in 1975 was 4,640 acres.’
‘The Certificate of Occupancy obtained by the Army in February 1994 shows that the Army later appropriated an additional 436 acres. The extra, which puts the total land acquired at 5,076 acres, was taken without the approval of Uvwie people.’