President Muhammadu Buhari, has given matching orders to the Minister of Defence as well as service chiefs to investigate military officers selling lands donated to the military. He also promised the Urhobo nation that his government will not forget them in his development agenda.
President Buhari gave the assurance when the Urhobo Traditional Rulers, Leadership of Urhobo Progress Union, UPU, and Urhobo members in the All Progressives Congress, APC, paid him a courtesy visit at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The President pleaded with the Urhobo nation to protect oil installations in their communities the way they protected it during the 16 years administration of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
He, however, told them that the request for Urhobo person in his cabinet may not be possible as the Constitution has specified that there will be one person from every State of the federation without mentioning a particular community the person should come from.
The Urhobo nation in their address read by the President General of UPU, Olorogun Moses Taiga told the President to ensure the restructuring of the country and that there was serious hunger and poverty in the country which required immediate solution.
They also demanded that President Buhari should appoint an Urhobo indigene in his cabinet, stressing that Urhobo is the biggest ethnic group in Delta State and the fifth biggest ethnic group in the country.
They Urhobo nation complained that the military was selling Urhobo lands, in Uvwie that were donated to them and pleaded that the President should help them recover their lands which they claimed had been unutilised.
“We urge the federal government to look into the issue of unutilised lands which we voluntarily donated to the military years ago but which are now being farmed out in parcels and sold for non military uses. We request that such lands be returned to the owner communities in Urhobo land.”
The Uvwie Kingdom led by their counsel, Chief Victor Otomiewo recently, accused men and officers of the Nigerian Army, 3rd Battalion Effurun of selling of their land to Shoprite, a world class eatery centre for one billion naira and Chevron Employers Multi-purpose Cooperative Society Ltd
At a press briefing calling on the Federal Government to swiftly intervene, Chief Victor Otomiewo, Former Delta State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice who spoke on behalf of the people of Uvwie Kingdom demanded an immediate release of unused and undeveloped lands earlier given to the federal government for the establishment of the military base.
Uvwie people alleged that without Federal government knowledge, officers of the Nigerian Army are leasing out land supposedly acquired for public purposes, a situation they lamented that is unacceptable to the kingdom.
Chief Otomiewo at the briefing accused the army officers of invading three communities of Ohorhe1, Ohorhe 11 and Oku-Irero all within the kingdom on Febuary 13 and 18, 2014, saying that such act was not only barbaric and condemnable, but could threatened the existing peace in the kingdom.
He stressed that, “they are further assaulting, threatening arrest and/or detention of the Uvwie natives who are the bonafide owners of the landed properties and promises. In short, the army as at today in conjunction with men of the Nigerian Navy had constituted themselves into occupational forces in Uvwie land.”
According to him, “specifically since the 13th day of February, 2014, armed soilders from the Effurun Baracks had laid siege on Ohorhe Communities where they have since been harassing innocent indigenes, marking residential, commercial and religious houses for demolition under the guise that these structures were built on land belonging to the Nigerian Army.
“Naval officers are deployed daily to allocate Uvwie land along Refinery Road to rent paying tenants and markets which traditionally and by the constitution ought to be exclusive revenue generation for the Uvwie Local Government Council.”
Chief Otomiewo also faulted the Delta State Police Commissioner and demanded that it handover to the Ekpan people what he described illegally constructed Shopping Complex on the land surrounding the Police Barracks in Ekpan.
He explained that although issues relating to the acquisition of the lands were still under litigation, “men of the Nigerian Army without the knowledge of the Federal government are leasing out lands supposedly acquired (without the payment of adequate compensation) for public purposes, to private persons at multi-million naira fees whilst the Uvwie land owners are dying in misery and poverty.”
They demanded that the Federal Government ordered “the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the army of occupation from all the undeveloped and/or illegally occupied land of my people, especially the ones marked down for demolition in Ohorhe communities.“That the Federal Government returns to the Uvwie people all the unoccupied and undeveloped portions of their land which the men of the Nigerian Army and Navy are presently plundering.”
While responding to a question, Chief Otomiewo told journalists to go and asked the promoters of Shoprite Complex currently under construction in Uvwie land who their landlords is, adding that the land was allegedly sold for about N1 billion by the Ministry of Defence and no kobo was remitted to the owners of the lands who were forcibly ejected
He challenged the Defence Ministry to make public names of their tenants and revenue collected since the land was acquired from the Uvwie people.
However, the Nigerian Army described as false allegations made by one Mr Otomiewo that it has sold off lands meant for barracks in Warri, Delta State.
A statement by the Director Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Texas Chukwu, said the allegation was made against the Nigerian Army and the person of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai during a popular morning programme “SUNRISE” on Channels Television Saturday June 2, 2018.
Chukwu said a portion of the land was use for building of a ‘Mammy Market’ while another part is being used for development of post service housing estate for military personnel.
He said the Nigerian Army Properties Limited (NAPL) entered into collaboration with Chevron Employers Multi-purpose Cooperative Society Ltd, for housing development in a portion of the land allocated for post service estate.
“The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai is in no way involved with the owners of whatever company that was formed to sell lands to civilians with 50 million shares.
“Nobody is selling the land to civilians between N15 and N17 million. The Chief of Army Staff has no stalls or any kind of property in the said Mammy Market,” Chukwu said.
The Army also gave Mr Victor Otomiebo 7 days to either produce evidences to substantiate his allegations or be ready to face the Nigerian Army in the court of law.
