Land Tussle: Female Lawyer Petitions IGP Over Enugu Police Boss’ Alleged Misconduct

The Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Mr. Danmallam Mohammed is currently enmeshed in a controversy over the ownership of multi-million naira plots of land located at Cattle Lairage, Emena Industrial Layout, Enugu.

The Police chief who is at the centre of the land ownership dispute is alleged to have been frustrating the execution of Court Judgement issued by an Enugu State High Court.

In a petition by a female legal practitioner, Mrs Uju Ken-Ohanenye, to the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris dated February 12, 2018, the Enugu Police Commissioner, Mr Mohammed was alleged to have conspired with a House of Representative member, Chukwuemeka Ujam to pervert the cause of justice on the real ownership of the expanse of land.

In the petition, Mrs Ken-Ohanenye claimed to have purchased plots of land at the layout after which she perfected all relevant government papers to establish her ownership in 2013.

The petitioner lamented that shortly after perfecting the papers, politicians in the government of Enugu State allegedly trespassed on her land and confiscated the plots by distributing them among themselves.

The Abuja-based legal practitioner said in the petition that in order to redress the injustice against her, she instituted a court action against the Attorney General of Enugu State as well as the Commissioner in charge of land in the state.

She added that on July 21, 2016 a landmark judgement was delivered by Justice A.R. Ozoemena in her favour nullifying the purported confiscation of the land by trespassers.

Justice Ozoemena in the judgement barred the defendants and their agents from depriving her of ownership of the land and that in the event the land is needed in the public interest, the defendant must first pay her adequate compensation for the improvement effected on the land.

Besides, the court held that the defendants or their agents cannot revoke her fundamental interest in the property and also granted the restraining order against them.

The petitioner further explained that in the attempt to reclaim the land she registered the judgement delivered in her favour and requested the court for the execution of the judgement to enable the land to be recovered from the trespassers.

The lawyer, who is the chief executive of Kenuj Investment Limited, further stated that the court authority notified the commissioner of police on their decision to execute the judgement through court official after which the police in response deployed eight policemen to the court officials for the purpose of executing the judgement.

She further stated in the petition that after recovering the land from the trespassers, a House of Representatives Member Ujam, who was a commissioner for land in the state at the time she purchased the land, showed up to claim ownership of the land and met with the police commissioner for an assistance to chase her away from her land.

The lawyer alleged that after the lawmaker had met with the police chief, the court judgement and enroll order granted in her favour by the High Court in 2016 were ignored by the Enugu Police boss in conspiracy with the House of Rep member and have since laid siege on the land to deprive her of the ownership.

She further explained several attempts by the High Court official to enforce the judgement were thwarted and frustrated by the police chief apparently on the instruction of Hon. Ujam.

The lawyer, therefore, appealed to the Inspector General of Police to call the Enugu Police Commissioner to order and allow the cause of Justice and fairplay to prevail in her ordeal.

She regretted that as at the time she completed all government papers on the land, the two defendants in the case did not file appeal at the Court of Appeal in Enugu but instead have been using crude power and self-help through the assistance of the police commissioner to frustrate the execution of the judgement to deprive her of the ownership of the land

Attempts to get the reaction of police spokesperson in Enugu were unsuccessful as at the time of publishing this report.