MEET FRANK OSHANUGOR
By Frank Oshanugor
In the last days of 2024 the king of Ogwashi-Uku in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State, His Royal Majesty Obi Ifechukwude Aninshi Okonjo was so much in the news not for the right reasons but ostensibly for issues associated with forceful and concerted attempt to acquire lands of communities that are not naturally within his territorial jurisdiction. Prominent among the offended communities are Ubulu-Okiti and Aniagbala-Ubulu-Uku.
For clarity, Aniagbala is a sub-community within the traditional and political control of Ubulu-Uku and currently occupies a space in Ward 4 in Ubulu-Uku as delineated by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
These two communities of Ubulu-Okiti and Ubulu-Uku are naturally within the Ubulu Kingdom and do not in any way share kingship or territory with Ogwashi-Uku. It was therefore surprising that some time in 2024 encroachment by some land grabbing elements reportedly backed by Obi of Ogwashi-Uku began in Ubulu-Okiti Aniagbala-Ubulu-Uku in the most ferocious manner.
In spite of initial resistance by the youths of Ubulu-Okiti, Obi Okonjo’s agents were upping their game even though on the other hand, the King and some of his chiefs were pretending not to be involved in the encroachment that involved the use of buldozers and armed thugs. In December, 2024 the land grabbers intensified efforts and moved the frontiers of their illegal activities to Aniagbala where no fewer than 6000 growing palm trees were pulled down and 100 beehives set ablaze. They all belonged to a retired banker, Mr. Luke Ejiofor who had bought the land for economic development purposes.
Agents of Obi Ogwashi-Uku in the fore front of this land grabbing regime all along have relished themselves with the misinformed belief that their principal has court mandate to dispossess people of their land courtesy of a purported court judgement. The so called court judgement which ordinarily is a consent judgement has been in the public space for sometime now.
In a Writ of Possession which is the purported court judgement on Suit No. 0/23/2021at the High Court of Justice, Ogwashi-Uku between HRM Obi Ifechukwude Aninshi Okonjo, Prince Ifeakanachukwu Emordi as plaintiff/claimants and Ashi Industries Limited (Owners of Ashi Farms), Mrs. Felicia Ashibuogwu and Mr. Gregory Ashibuogwu as defendants, it was stated that: “Whereas at the High Court of Delta State, Holden at Ogwashi-Uku on the 28th of April, 2022 it was adjudged that the defendants shall surrender to the claimants 470 hectares of 686.70 hectares of all that parcel of land lying and situate at Edo Ogwashi-Uku settlement in Ogwashi-Uku kingdom/Clan and which land is more particularly described and delineated on Survey Plan Number ASC/DT/205/2017 attached to Certificate of Occupancy Number DTSR No.22662 granted to the defendants on the 1s day of July 2021.
“The defendants shall retain the remaining 216.740 hectares of the said land for themselves.” This Writ of Possession was dated 17th Day of October, 2024. Similarly in a letter Ref. No. HCO/23/Vol. 4/164 dated 21st October, 2024 from High Court of Justice, Ogwashi-Uku to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) for the attention of the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone 5, headquarters Benin-City, the court had requested for the service of 25 police officers to provide security to Court officials during the execution of the Writ of Possession in Suit No. 0/23/2021 earlier mentioned between Obi of Ogwashi-Uku and Ashi Industries Limited.
According to the letter, the request for such high number of police personnel was as a result of the size of parcel of land and time within which the execution would entail. The execution was scheduled to take place in 28th October, 2024 at Asaba according to a letter signed by the Assistant Chief Registrar Mr. E.C. Oji.
This request for police protection was eventually approved by the Inspector General of Police vide a letter dated 4th November, 2024 signed by his Principal Staff Officer II, Deputy Commissioner of Police Asuquo Effiong with Reference No. CB.3594/IGP.SEC/ABJ/Vol. 12/78. The letter granted the AIG Zone 5 Police Headquarters authority to comply with the letter requesting for police protection without knowing in details issues bordering on the land in question.
It was not surprising that the Ogwashi-Uku monarch and his agents maximised the use of police from Zone 5 in entrenching themselves in the territory in question and putting those whose lands were being forcefully taken under serious intimidation as events of December 21, 2024 revealed with the arrest and detention of the Ogwuluzame of Ubulu-Okiti, Chief Linus Osemene and two others by police from Zone 5 who obviously had compromised.
Regrettably, the Ogwashi-Uku monarch and his collaborators do not seem to understand the fallacies in their attempt to use a consent judgement to rob Ubulu-Okiti and Ubulu-Uku communities of their ancestral lands. There are so many ambiguities in their attempt to use the purported judgement to steal other people’s land.
To start with, Ubulu-Okiti and Aniagbala-Ubulu-Uku communities have never been part of Ogwashi-Uku kingdom, neither do the communities belong or ever been under the control of Edo-Ogwashi-Uku which is naturally part of Ogwashi-Uku clan. Moreso, the consent judgement Obi Okonjo and his collaborators are relying on, in their claim for hundreds of hectares of land does not in any way refer to Ubulu-Okiti and Aniagbala-Ubulu-Uku communities’ lands as being part of the controversial 686.70 hectares contained in the judgement which by the resolutions of parties to the case ceded 470 hectares to Obi of Ogwashi-Uku and 216.740 hectares to Ashi Industries Limited.
The question one would naturally ask is: why would Ubulu-Okiti and Aniagbala-Ubulu-Uku communities who were not parties to the case between Ogwashi-Uku monarch and Ashi Industries Limited lose their lands to Obi Okonjo and his collaborators? The second question is how can a Certificate of Occupancy (CofO) purportedly issued some forty years ago on behalf of Edo Ogwashi-Uku in Ogwashi-Uku kingdom now extend to Ubulu-Okiti and Ubulu-Uku communities located in Ubulu-Uku Kingdom.
The consent judgement that was obtained was for Edo-Ogwashi and it was not extended to any other community. Therefore, it becomes doubtful and suspicious that Edo Ogwashi has 686.70 hectares to be shared, acquired of given out to Obi Ogwashi-Uku or Ashi Industries Limited as Edo Ogwashi does not have 686.70 hectares.
In the light of this, the consent judgement obtained in court for Obi of Ogwashi-Uku and Ashi Industries Limited to share 686.70 hectares without the consent of the land owners in Ubulu-Okiti, Aniagbala-Ubulu-Uku is misleading the court. There is general belief by those conversant with the issue that the Monarch has misled the court into agreeing to a consent judgement that had only the King and Ashi Industries Limited. If the monarch was sincere, why did he not include all the parties that have interest in the land in the court process? Why must it be only him and Ashi Industries Limited?
Moreso, from Obi Okonjo claim, Ashi Farms for which Ashi Industries Limited initially went for land is defunct. According to him, his main reason of trying to recover the land is that the land in Edo Ogwashi was originally given to Ashi Farms to use for purposes of development but Ashi Farms never used the land for farm purpose before it became defunct.
It was further gathered that the Obi’s intention was prompted by the suspicion that Ashi Industries Limited and some people from Isah-Ogwashi were trying to sell the same 686.70 hectares to developers and the monarch felt, it would be wrong for Ashi Industries Limited to sell the land given out for farming purposes by Edo-Ogwashi community.
In Obi’s attempt to genuinely or pretentiously recover the land from Ashi industries limited, a deal was struck in a more criminally patterned arrangement that would make His Royal Majesty part with 470 hectares while leaving 216.740 hectares to Ashi Industries Limited. Some sources close to the palace revealed that the King had actually sold the land to developers, hence he has the financial wherewithal to confront any community that dares to challenge him.
Owners of the land strongly believe that from Obi Okonjo’s posturing, it is very clear that they fraudulently obtained judgement for the land at Edo Ogwashi and went ahead to share the land of Ubulu-Okiti, Aniagbala-Ubulu-Uku and Otulu among themselves.
From investigation another lapse in the attempt to annex Ubulu-Okiti and Aniagbala-Ubulu-Uku communities to Ogwashi-Uku is the fact that fundamental documents required for the issuance of CofO are not in place. These documents include Deed of Assignment, Receipt of Purchase of land from the owners, survey plan registered by a surveyor.
It is a known fact that nobody can get a Certificate of Occupancy without all the aforementioned documents and processes. So the question in public domain is: if Obi Okonjo claims he has C of O on the lands that measure 686.70 hectares of Edo-Ogwashi-Uku, where is the survey plan for that Certificate of Occupancy?
According to the survey plan in the public space relating to the controversial 686.70 hectares, the Survey plan was done in 2020, many years after the C of O was allegedly obtained. Observers are asking, how can one get a survey plan for a C of O which was purportedly obtained about 40 years ago. Where are the boundaries of the C of O being claimed as stretching to Edo Ogwashi-Uku down to Otulu, Ubulu-Okiti and Ubulu-Uku.
At some point as reported in the media, the Ogwashi-Uku monarch had claimed that Edo-Ogwashi territory extends to Aniagbala. This is a fallacy as Aniagbala apart from being a traditional sub-community of larger Ubulu-uku community is politically within Ward 4 in Ubulu-Uku. Investigation has further revealed that Aniagbala has been in existence for more than 100 years and never shared any boundary with Ogwashi-Uku. So it becomes difficult how Obi Okonjo arrived at the conclusion that Edo Ogwashi-Uku extends to Aniagbala.
According to Mr. Luke Ejiofor, “I have shown them the boundaries as recognized by the State Ministry of Lands and Survey. I have given them to show where Ubulu-Okiti and Aniagbala are located. It is far away from Edo-Ogwashi.”
He went further to say, “assuming that the Monarch’s claim of having C of O issued at Edo Ogwashi for Ogwashi-Uku Kingdom is correct, the question is how does this C of O that stretches 686.70 hectares extend to Ubulu-Okiti and Aniagbala-Ubulu-Uku. If there is C of O which is approved by the Governor of state since the Governor is the only one who can approve C of O, let Obi of Ogwashi-Uku should make it public.” On the other hand, Ejiofor argued that the purported C of O must be defective if it is in place as it does not have supporting documents.
Another worrisome scenario is the monarch’s disobedience to the State Government’s order earlier in December, 2024 restraining him from further encroachment into any community’s land until the Commission of Inquiry set up to look into land disputes involving him comes up with its report. The King and his agents had gone ahead to forcefully annex Aniagbala. The Monarch claimed that he had a Certificate of Occupancy.
To Ejiofor, “the Obi’s action is a clear violation of the Governor’s directive that any land dispute must wait until the Commission of Inquiry submits its report and a White Paper issued by government. The Obi has violated the Governor’s directive by moving ahead with a newly procured Survey Plan and grabbed other people’s land with fraudulently obtained consent judgement.
“The Monarch further used the fraudulently obtained consent judgement against Ubulu-Okiti and Aniagbala-Ubulu-Uku and using police from Zone 5 to intimidate people on their land. The king’s agents went ahead to destroy farm land and economic trees and crop, leaving them helpless. The question now is: what are the communities whose farms are destroyed and land violently acquired to be doing now? Their means of livelihood is farming and government has been urging people to return to farming to increase food production.
“This is what informed my decision to invest in farming after 30 years working as a banker. My plan was to create food security and empower people through my palm plantation and farms. Selling farm land to developers by the Ogwashi-Uku monarch means that very soon there would not be land for farming. Government must therefore act urgently.”
It is a gross disobedience to Delta State Government for the monarch to send his agents to take over Aniagbala lands when the Government had officially restrained him from further action on any community’s land.
There is also the contention that under the law even if someone is an illegal squatter occupying another man’s land, there is a time limit that is allowed for the squatter to even exercise his right of fair hearing by going to contest his eviction in court if the land owner has given him quit notice. The court has to determine the ownership and circumstances surrounding the land.
The question here is: assuming that the people of Ubulu-Okiti and Aniagbala-Ubulu-Uku were illegal squatters on the lands he is claiming ownership, did he go through the aforementioned legal process of giving quit notice to the presumed squatters and giving them time to exercise their right of contesting ownership of the lands. The answer is obviously NO as the King’s buldozers and thugs took the place of such legal requirement.
As far as people of Ubulu-Okiti and Aniagbala-Ubulu-Uku are concerned, there was no court judgement asking them to vacate their lands. What is in place is a Consent judgement and from the legal point of view, Consent Judgement is simply an agreement consented to by the parties in a matter. And in this particular case, the parties in the case were Obi of Ogwashi-Uku and Ashi Industries Limited – owners of Ashi Farms. The people whose lands are forcefully being taken firmly believe that the Obi of Ogwashi-Uku and Ashi Industries Limited have agreed or consented to fraudulently share other people’s lands.
Another question that arises in the circumstances is whether Obi of Ogwashi-Uku was acting as Estate agent to Ashi Industries Limited. Why is he sharing the 686.70 hectares of land with Ashi Industries Limited if it is believed that Certificate of Occupancy in question belongs to Ashi Industries Limited since it was not issued in the name of Obi of Ogwashi-Uku.
However, there is a caveat that if the Obi insists that the C of O belongs to him, he should have the boldness to publicly disclose the identities of those who sold lands to him at Ubulu-Okiti and Aniagbala-Ubulu-Uku.
Furthermore, if the Monarch is acting in good faith, he ought not have involved the Zone 5 Police personnel in a manner that shows outright disregard and disrespect for the authorities of Delta State Police Command. The State Commissioner of Police is a member of the security council whose decision informed the setting up of the Commission of Inquiry currently looking into the land dispute with the monarch as the centre of attraction based on several petitions reportedly written against him.
