Flyover Land: Police Denies Forceful Ejection Of Owner

The Rivers State Po
lice Command has denied a rift between it and an elder statesman, Dr Sokari Soberekon, over a piece of land by the Mile 1 flyover police station Port Harcourt.
The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Ahmed Mohammed, said this while reacting to allegations by the elderstatesman of a purported move by the police to forcefully eject him from the land.
Mr Mohammed however told The Tide in a telephone interview that the command was not aware of the issue.
Earlier, Dr. Soberekon had told newsmen in Port Harcourt that the land was given on lease to him for 99 years by the Federal Government.
The elderstatesman who displayed copy of the certificate of occupancy before the press said that the right to occupy the land was given him in 2007 and signed by the then Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, B.W A Ayonoadu.
He said that the police later told him that the certificate of occupancy has been revoked, following his protest over the occupation of the land by traders on the order of the police.
The elderstateman stressed the need for investigation by the commissioner with the view to identifying those police officers involved in the scam.
He also accused the authority of the Nigerian Railway Corporation of being involved in the situation.
However, the officer in charge of Port Harcourt office of the Nigerian Railway Corporation Port Harcourt was not available for comment when The Tide visited his office.