Community Seeks Govt’s Intervention Over Unfair Land Acquisition

Youths in Egbeda in
Emohua Local Government Area  of Rivers State have called on the state government to assist them in revoking what they described as a fraudulent  acquisition of  their land by Jocarl, an agro-based firm operating in their community. Mr. Franklyn Isiah who stated this while speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt Monday  remarked that the agents used for the acquisition had deceived the community into believing that the acquisition of the property was by the state government.
Mr. Isiah alleged that the former chairman  of Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, Hon. Allen Nmah who was the agent of the firm that purchased the property had insisted that government could only pay compensation to the landlord, which by law must not be adequate.
According to him, the community land was expropriated with a paltry sum of eighty  thousand naira hectare.
He explained that a hectare of land comprised eleven plots and pointed  out that a plot was sold for N7,272, a situation which he noted had put the agrarian community in jeopardy.
The youth chairman also alleged that the expropriation was achieved  in connivance  with some indigenes  of the community who had enriched themselves through  the fraudulent process at the expense of the entire community.
Mr. Isiah stated that though the land was acquired  by Akor and Fidelis Ltd, Jocarl Ltd  was the  company  operating on the land.
He stated that ninety  per cent of the landlords were not paid anytime.
He said those that collected  the peanut of N7,272 per plot merely thought the sum of money was meant for kola or  “bush entry” but were surprised when the  purchasers  presumed that they had bought the land and never showed up thereafter.
Mr. Isiah also explained that some of the people whose land had been acquired had gone to court to challenge the process and pointed out that in spite of the deceit employed in the course of acquisition, Jocarl Ltd, which only  appeared  after Akor & Fidelis had acquired  their  property, damaged their crops, economic trees, desecrated their gods and destroyed their worship centres among others.
He expressed regrets that some greedy members of the community were used to expropriate land.
“There is no where in the Rivers State where a plot is sold for N7,272”, he stated.
“We  are an agrarian community we cannot  allow few individuals to turn our people to beggars. We want to see the  documents that the principal members of their  families  were alleged to have signed. We want to see their thumbprints,” the youth chairman stated.
Mr. Isiah also accused those he described as greedy persons of using thugs to suppress them from complaining to the appropriate quarters.
He said he was optimistic that the people were becoming aware of the growing restiveness of the community over the shoddy deals.
He urged government to do something urgently before the money bag used their ill gotten wealth to snuff life out of them.