From Emmanuel Ogoigbe – Warri
The Delta State Government has been called upon to pay compensation in monetary values for the demolition of part of landed property of Dr Prosper Orezimena situated at Airoboyi Close, off Jesus is Lord Street, off Refinery Road /Indian Close, Effurun, in Uvwie Local Government Area, which it has constructed road through and Eselemo Transport Ltd for trespassing its piece of land at water front in Warri Main Market to build blocks of classrooms, in the spirit of peace, equity and justice.
This call was made by Vanguard for Transparent Leadership and Democracy,(VATLAD) a Non-governmental organization in Nigeria.
In press briefing at Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre, Warri, the National President of the body and former Director General, Direct Labour Agency Emmanuel Igbinni said though, the state government’s construction of the road is for public interest as it would aid connectivity of road networks in Effurun and Warri for easy transportations, in the interest of peace equity, justice and fairness,the owner should be compensated.
His words:” l think, as an Engineer with experience in road maintenance and construction, it is beneficial to have road…. what it means now is that, from Jakpa Road, you can connect to Refinery Road…it is easy, you need to connect link roads in a city like Warri…”
According to him, the owner of the structure had proposed to establish specialized hospital where people with disabilities would be attended to – which is also necessary for the state and creation of job opportunities for the teeming graduates in the state.
While appealing to Dr Orezimena to remain calm, as though painful as he meant well for the state and its people by his plan, DG of Direct Labour Agency said, it is possible to get alternative land within the state for such project as such project should not be taken out of the state.
On the state government’s trespassing of part of land belonging to Eselemo Transport Ltd which necessitated Prince Collins Eselemo to accuse Governor Sheriff Oborevwori as land grabber, the three-time governorship candidate of Peoples Redemption Party in past elections said, Governor Oborevwori is never a land grabber of Collins Eselemo’s family.
According to him, when the said land was tres-passed many years ago by the state government, Governor Oborevwori was not the Governor but it was former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan . He said such use of language was borne out of annoyance on the part of Prince Collins Eselemo as he did not intend to utter such words.
According to former DG, Direct Labour Agency, the land in question has certificate of occupancy(C/O) which was issued by the defund Bendel State Government on 21st September, 1979 to Eselemo Transport Ltd and it was signed by the then Military Administrator, Brigadier Abubakar Waziri, acting as Governor with the appropriate signatories of witnesses from both sides. He however said, sometime in month of October 2009, the Management of DESOPADEC under the leadership of Chief Dr Wellington Okrika, the then Executive Chairman of DESOPADEC, trespassed the said land and constructed a block of classrooms- which now sparked off protest from Prince Collins Eselemo on behalf of Eselemo’s family who are the owner of Eselemo Transport Ltd.
He said against this backdrop, Eselemo Transport Ltd, through Prince Eselemo demanded the sum of N200,000,000 as compensation, which to the best of his knowledge, it was under the government of former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan. According to the National President of VATLAD, Chief Dr Wellington Okrika did not want legal battle between the government and Eselemo hence, settled the matter amicably through the Ministry of Land, Survey and Urban Development, Asaba under Commissioner Hon. Raymond Guana who really acknowledged the trespass and compensation paid to Eselemo Transport Ltd, with the sum of N75,000,000 (after 10% deduction) out of N200,000,000 for two Acres which DESOPADEC encroached upon from the total of 33.42 Hectares of the land. But to Eselemo, it was two Hectares that DESOPADEC really encroached in the land.
He said, what must have caused recently, the brawl between state Government led by Governor Oborevwori and Eselemo Transport Ltd which Prince Collins Eselemo stands for, may not be unconnected with the fact that, Prince Collins Eselemo has asked the state government to pay the balance of N125, 000,000 which was earlier demanded as compensation for the land adding that, the state government was in the process of paying due to the cordial relationship with Prince Collins Eselemo and Governor Sheriff Oborevwori.
He however said, it would be difficult to judge what actually went wrong along the line that warranted Prince Collins Eselemo to have used such language on the person of the Governor Oborevwori.
The DG, DLA said, there is another twist to the matter on October this year when a group of persons came up and threatened a legal action against DESOPADEC that it has connived with Eselemo’s family to take the same parcel of land as the land in question belongs to them.
According to him, Mr Charles Aniagwu, the Commissioner for Rural Works and Information appeared to have accepted this latest group of persons’ argument that the said land which compensation had been paid to Eselemo Transport Ltd through Prince Collins Eselemo belonged to the group as they claimed. He said, Mr Aniagwu gave this hint during his interview in Arise Television interview recently, and therefore condemned the action in strong term as such (action) is capable of complicating issues and causing chaos in the state.
The National President of VATLAD however appealed to the state government for the peaceful settlement of all issues as regards Dr Orezimena and Prince Eselemo to move the state to the next level.
