Some landlords of Iroko and Cenamon drives, residing at Cedarwood Estate, located along SARS Road in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, have cried out over an alleged forceful occupation of their estates by the managing Director of
Delta Technologies and Properties Limited, Engr Stephen Nyegwa
a resident of Rumuaholu community.

The affected landlords, during a peaceful protest in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, accused the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Special Area Rumudomaya, also known as Rumuokoro Police Division, of aiding one Engr Nyegwa with a detachment of armed police men to forcefully invade their estates and mark their buildings for demolition, an act they described as land grabbing and fraudulent.

Speaking to newsmen on behalf of the affected landlords, Mr. Chinedu Igweze, one of the landlords whose property was marked for demolition at Cenamon Drive, accused Mr. Stephen of brandishing a fake court judgment without a court number that does not exist, in an attempt to take their estates through dubious means.

He told journalists that the accused person has, for the past three days, through the aid of a detachment of police, invaded their estates and marked their buildings for demolition, and is going about brandishing a fake, procured court judgement.

According to Mr. Igweze, one of the landlords who intercepted his operation was arrested by the armed policemen that accompanied him to the estate and taken to Rumuokoro Police station. He added that it was at the Rumuokoro Police Division that the purported court judgement was discovered to be fake and non-existent.

“Surprisingly, we came back to the estate and saw Mr. Nyegwa with a detachment of Police officers from Rumuokoro Police Division still excavating people’s land and taking over people’s property,” he stated.

Also speaking, a legal practitioner and a landlord in the estate, Gbenga Oladapo (Esq.), accused the Divisional Police Officer of Special Area Rumudomaya of aiding the illegal acts and described the move as land grabbing.

He queried the rationale behind the deployment of police personnel by the DPO to aid a man noted for his illicit acts and land grabbing in the state, stressing that the deployment of police officers was to facilitate the fraudulent demolition of people’s property without a valid court judgement.

He called on the Inspector General of Police to immediately redeploy the DPO of Rumudomaya Special Area, adding that some landlords have been admitted to hospital due to the shock that triggered their high blood pressure.

In her speech, another landlord, Mrs. Rita Ibifaka, said she has been living in the estate for a very long time without such an encounter, stressing that they bought the land genuinely from the owner of the land.

“They (land grabbers) gave us seven days to quit our property after marking it for demolition. I am calling on the Rivers State Government and the leadership of Obio/Akpor LGA to come to our aid,” she said.

When contacted, Engr. Stephen Nyegwa denied any wrongdoing and being a land grabber. He stressed that he was fighting to reclaim what belonged to his late father’s family in their large family inheritance, adding that an Appeal court in the state had set aside the earlier judgement in favour of one Mr. Apostle, and that no court judgment stopped him from taking what belongs to his family.

“I am a good citizen of Obio/Akpor LGA. The land is a family land which belonged to our forefathers, precisely Aker. My father took Apostle to high court. Apostle won the case at High court. My father, not satisfied with the judgement of the High court, proceeded to Appeal court where the justices of Appeal court set aside the judgement of the High court and ordered the Chief Judge to re-assign the matter,” he said.

He exonerated the police of any complicity in the matter, adding that the police did not have any hand in the matter.

The Spokesperson for the Rivers State Police Command, SP Grace Iringe Koko, when contacted, dismissed the allegations that levelled against the DPO by the landlords