The Enugu House of Assembly may not have made headlines for some time, not because the House has not been sitting or performing its constitutional functions, but the media may not have seen weighty decisions to guarantee top spots in the news.
However, the recent report on the controversial Centenary City Land, which has claimed some lives, was a major decision that has attracted the attention of major media houses across the country.
For a controversy that led to several litigations, muscle flexing, and behind-the-scene maneuvers involving very prominent and powerful individuals, one could have predicted that even the Obeagu and Amechi communities must have had doubts if the Assembly would be able to treat their matter without fear or favor.
But the Assembly came out smoking; delivering a shocking report that can only be described as transparent. The report of the Special Committee on Land Matters/Dispute has continued to receive wide commendations across the country. And the media cannot help but document this landmark report at a time the common man was losing faith in the system.
The Issues At Stake
The petition from Obeagu and Amechi communities alleged that a private firm, Private Estates International West Africa (PEIWA), used intimidation, harassment, malicious demolition of buildings in order to forcefully take over their ancestral land despite pending suits in court.
It all started sometime in 1982, when former Governor of Old Anambra State, Dr. Jim Nwobodo, a native of Amechi Awkunanaw, proposed to site a university within his home community.
He commissioned survey works pursuant to the proposed acquisition of an estimated 318.560 hectares of land in certain kindred families in Amechi Uwani and the Obeagu Awkunanaw community.
Preliminary survey was done and endorsed by the then Surveyor General, M.U.C Obi, dated March 8, 1982, with Tracing No: MISC AN-53 for 318.560 hectares.
However, Jim Nwobodo left office in 1983 and was unable to complete the acquisition and the project.
But a certain private company, Private Estates International West Africa Limited (PEIWA), entered the land sometime in 2009 in the name of a New Township Development Joint Venture with the government and began to clear the land for the proposed development.
The promoters of the new project allegedly extended the land from 318.560 to over 1097 hectares of their ancestral lands, partly belonging to Amechi Uwani and the other part to Obeagu Awkunanaw.
While the survey sketch for the proposed Anambra State University of Technology was registered as TRACING NO: MISC AN-53, signed by the then Surveyor General, M.U.C Obi and dated March 8, 1982, a new survey plan was purportedly re-scripted to bear PLAN No: EN (A) 594 in favor of the Enugu State University of Technology in 1985 and expanded to 1097 hectares.
PEIWA’s Submissions
Responding to issues raised by the communities, PEIWA said they did not participate in the acquisition of the 1,097.128 hectares of land in 1986.
They claimed that on 18/5/2009, they entered into an agreement with the Enugu State Government named "New Township Development Agreement" (NTDA) to develop a model city on the 1,097.128 hectares in Amechi/Obeagu communities covered by a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) dated 1/1/2009.
That sequel to the above-mentioned agreement, the state government relinquished to PEIWA the said 1,097.128 hectares of land. They also stated that they took full possession of the land in accordance with the provisions stipulated in the New Township Development Agreement.
Committee Findings
In its findings, the Assembly Committee noted that PEIWA was unable to prove that the process of acquisition was served on Obeagu/Amechi communities as required under the Land Use Act.
The Assembly picked holes in the documents of acquisition of the said 1097 hectares with respect to the survey plan, official gazette, and some correspondences, such as:
(i) The survey plan dated 1985, which read “survey plan for the permanent site of Enugu State University of Science and Technology,” was obviously dubious because Enugu State had not been created in 1985. The state was created in 1991, and Enugu State University of Science and Technology was established thereafter.
(ii) That Surveyor Igboanugo, the acting Surveyor General of Anambra State in 1983, who eventually retired voluntarily in 1984, was said to have signed the survey plan in 1986, which is untrue because he could not have signed the survey plan as Surveyor General of Anambra State two years after he had left office.
(iii) That the aforementioned official gazette was purported to have been signed in 1986 on behalf of Navy Captain Alison Madueke as the Military Governor of Anambra State, when in fact Navy Captain Alison Madueke was not the Military Governor of Anambra State at that time.
(iv) The said correspondences supposedly signed by Chief Gabriel Ezeoha Ogbodo on behalf of Obeagu community in his capacity as the Igwe of Obeagu were forged because he was not the Igwe of Obeagu in 1986. He was deposed as Igwe of Obeagu long before 1986.
(v) The correspondences purportedly signed by Chief V.V. Chukwuegbo on behalf of the Amechi community were also forged. Chief V.V. Chukwuegbo was not the Igwe of Amechi at that time, nor was he the regent. HRH Moses Ogbodo was Igwe of Amechi then.
(vi) That the former Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Jim Nwobodo, in a Vanguard newspaper publication of March 4, 2020, stated that any acquisition or certificate of occupancy over the land made and/or predicated on the Anambra State of Nigeria official gazette No.12 Volume II of March 27, 1986, and the purported 1985 Enugu State University of Science and Technology (plan EN(A)594), when Enugu State was not in existence, is invalid.
The Assembly concluded that Obeagu/Amechi communities proved beyond reasonable doubt that they were not carried along in the acquisition process.
The committee opined that this matter cannot be peaceably resolved by litigation but rather through mediation addressing the highlighted issues for a lasting peace, benefiting both the investors (including other developers and persons affiliated to or who derive titles from the host communities) and the host communities.
The Committee accused PEIWA of deliberately withholding information concerning fulfilling their financial obligations as stipulated in the New Township Development Agreement, hence, their blatant refusal to submit to the committee the evidence of payment to the state government.
The committee also stated that the Amechi and Obeagu communities had not been compensated for the purported acquisition of their ancestral land.
They noted that about 80% of the land is currently encumbered, as the communities have sold portions to several developers, who, in turn, sold them to third parties who are bona fide purchasers without any notice.
They concluded that this dispute and numerous litigations are negatively impacting various meaningful ventures intended for the area, and the image of the state is affected as if it harbors an unfriendly business environment. In all these, none of those involved, including the communities, are better off.
Recommendations
The Committee urged the state government to, as a matter of urgency, set up a high-powered mediation panel for the possible and amicable resolution of the matter.
They recommended that all parties should embrace dialogue and compromise as the only veritable means to peaceably resolve the issue for lasting peace.
The committee also recommended that a mechanism be put in place to expedite action on the immediate payment of commensurate compensation to the Obeagu and Amechi communities in respect of the portion of land already developed by PEIWA.
Furthermore, the committee urged the Enugu state government to urgently consider entering into a partnership with the host communities since the agreement entered with PEIWA, touching or involving the entire hectares of land (1,097 hectares), belonging to the host communities without evidence of government acquisition, has created unimaginable complexities and the present hydra-headed situation.
The Enugu State Government was also urged to call for an audit of all the lands developed by PEIWA in order to ascertain the exact portion of land under PEIWA’s occupation and its indebtedness to the state government.
Yes, a Daniel has come to judgement, and the masses must be celebrating that they have such a legislature they can rely on in cases such as this.
Observers have also stressed the need for the Assembly to follow up on the recommendations to see to its logical implementation, as some very powerful individuals may want to obstruct the course of justice.
This is a test case, and the integrity and resolve of the Enugu House of Assembly is on trial.
