The Anambra State House of Assembly on Tuesday, during plenary, recommended the immediate arrest and prosecution of the President General of Ifite Nteje community in Oyi Local Government Area of the state.
This followed a recommendation made by the House Committee on Public Petition on a petition sent to the House by one Mr Chinedu Uzor and Obinna Emenogu titled ‘Notice of illicit practice on land capable of causing communal crisis,’ an act which the state Assembly had legislated on.
During Plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Chukwuma Okoye, the House resolved to the Committee on the whole, where it considered the recommendations of the committee on Public Petition as presented by its Chairman, Mr Obi Nweke, representing Anambra East Constituency.
Mr Nweke told the lawmakers that the petitioner wrote the House claiming that he bought land from Ifite Nteje, which was duly signed by the PG of the Community alongside all his executives.
According to Mr Nweke, the petitioner observed that the same portion of land was also sold to another person by the same President General of Ifite Nteje, leading to harassment and threats against the developer.
The Public Petition Chairman narrated that several meetings were held, and the parties involved were invited to a hearing. Still, the President General neglected the Committee and never honoured the calls to appear for the hearing.
Based on the findings and information provided by other community executives, the committee observed that he allegedly sold the land to multiple persons.
Reporting progress after the considerations, the House adopted the recommendations of the Committee for it to be a working document and form part of the resolution of the State Assembly.
Part of the resolution includes allowing the petitioners to take possession of the 500 plots of land acquired from the respondent with immediate effect.
It also resolved that the petitioners should go and possess and start erecting perimeter fencing to demarcate their property from others, and the respondent should stay off the property.
The House urged the government to deploy all its coercive apparatuses, such as the OCHA brigade, the state Anti-tout Squad, the Nigeria Police, to proceed against any person molesting and preventing the Petitioners from possession of the land, especially one tout called Edu Baron.
They recommended that the President General of Ifite Nteje be arrested and prosecuted in line with the amendment law of Anambra State prohibiting illegal dealings on land, as he refused, failed, and neglected to appear before the committee to answer all the fraudulent activities of his towards the land in question.
