By Onomiguren Agbamu
One worrisome trend in Delta State is the escalating incidences of land grabbing, leading to clashes and litigations.
There have been countless cases of two or more individuals laying ownership claims to landed property in many communities.
Mr. Leonard Chukwujekwu has raised alarm over continued intimidation, and encroachment of his fifty- two plots of land along the Okpanam Ibusa bypass area within the Delta State Capital Territory by suspected land grabbers.
Addressing journalists at the expanse of land amidst heavy security, Mr Chukwujekwu narrated how he acquired the 52 plots of land instrumentally within 2021 and 2022 respectively from Umuokpolo community with all his life savings.
Chukwujekwu while recounting his ordeals in the hands of the suspected land grabbers, hinted that he was almost lynched to death following several coercive attempts to share ownership of the 52 plots of land with him .
He said, the suspected land grabbers had on several occasions, demolished the perimental fence he constructed round the plots of land.
Mr. Chukwujekwu maintained that apart from the fact that the land had valid documents including certified survey paper and Certificate of Occupancy , and that an Ibusa High Court delivered judgement affirming his ownership of the fifty-two plots of land, following a litigation over the ownership of the said land.
According to him; “the there have been some issues from land grabbers, but I have valid documents of the land, the kindred, and community are with me. We have even gone to Abuja to verify everything before we proceed to court”.
” The land grabbers are still entering by force, but I thank God for the help of the government and the masses, villagers that are in true position”.
” The true position is that I am the rightful owner of the land because the community are with me and that the land is for me, I bought the land from them”
” The dimension of the land is 52 plots of land, I have every document, the C/O, I bought the land ending of 2021 and 2022, I bought it four times”.
” There was a court judgement that was in favour of me, that I owned the landed property”.
He urged land grabbers to stop trespassing on the landed property to allow development to commence, saying, this is usually the situation with communities and kingdoms fighting over ownership of lands.
At the scene of the media interview, another team of police personnel alleged to have been protecting the interest of some suspected land grabbers stormed the area , interrogating the locals from Umuokpolo community who were measuring the fifty-two plots as well as a crop of Journalists about their mission.
Asking “What is happening here? What are you people doing,? , the heavily armed policemen suspected to have been mobilized from the police station at Ibusa, chorused concurrently.
The situation almost resulted in a fierce scene, with the counter police team almost clashing with the police escort for Mr. Chukwujekwu.
Efforts to get the reaction of the alleged land grabbers were unsuccessful as at the time of Publishing this report.
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