Amawom Village Wins In 27-Year-Old Land Dispute
An Imo State High Court, presided over by Justice K. A. Ojiako, has adjudicated a 27-year land dispute in favor of Amawom Village, located in Owerri Municipal, Imo State.
The plaintiffs, Boniface Osuji Onyeagocha and eleven others, filed the suit, designated as HOW/146/1999, on behalf of the Amawom community against the Imo State Government, the Military Administrator of Imo State, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Imo State, and the Commissioner for Lands, Survey, and Urban Planning of Imo State.
In a judgment that extended over two and a half hours, Justice Ojiako determined that “the claimants are entitled to the statutory right of occupancy over the parcels of land known as Housing Area K and Restoration Layout, situated within the New Owerri Capital Territory, Owerri.”
A portion of the court order states: “It is hereby declared that any purported allocation, grant, or lease of plots of land within the aforementioned Housing Area K and Restoration Layout of the New Owerri Capital Territory, Owerri, to any individual or individuals by the defendants is unconstitutional, unlawful, null, void, and of no effect whatsoever.”
In addition to declaring that any alleged acquisition of the aforementioned parcels of land by the defendants is unconstitutional, unlawful, null, and void, Justice Ojiako issued a perpetual injunction against the defendants.
The injunction reads: “An order of perpetual injunction is hereby decreed, restraining the defendants, their agents, servants, and privies, as well as all those claiming through or under them, from entering the lands, subdividing into plots, surveying, or engaging in any actions that are contrary to or inconsistent with the rights, interests, and property of the claimants on the said lands. The defendants are ordered to pay the plaintiffs the sum of N30 million as damages for trespass into the disputed land. Furthermore, the defendants shall bear the costs of this action, which are fixed at N5 million.”
