Land Grabbing: 80 Buildings To Be Demolished In Anambra Estate

…As Deputy Speaker, Former VC Unizik loose title

The Anambra State Deputy Speaker, Hon. Pascal Agbodike’s House is among the properties already marked for demolition at the Think Home Estate GRA, Awka that has been a subject of litigation for 21 years, Saturday Telegraph reports.

The demolition which has already started according to a dependable source will last for one week.

Trouble started late last year when the Appeal Court gave judgement in the land dispute that also involved Professor Ilochi Okafor SAN, former Vice Chancellor, of Nnamdi Azikiwe University UNIZIK. among other land grabbers.

Our correspondent gathered that the court judge gave the matter to the Bekilo and portray Farms WA Limited when they found them guilty of land grabbing.

The crux of the matter was that the land in dispute originally customarily belonged to the Jonathan Okoli family of Umuodioka village Awka.

The Anambra State govt. constituted the said Land of Jonathan Okoh into a think Home Estate, GRA Awka and later gave it out as a compensatory plot to Bekilo and poultry farms WA Ltd for the land it acquired for greater Onitsha water intake and issue them a certificate of occupancy. C of O.

But the land was illegally sold to land grabbers the one-time member of the Anambra State House of Assembly late Val Elosiuba who did the bidding and sale.

When the owner of the property, Bekilo poultry farm went in to take possession and develop his land they sued him and his company hence the litigation.

The Anambra State High Court on 17/12/2014, delivered a judgement by Coram H.O. Ozoh J. in favour of the former vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Professor Ilochi Okafor SAN against and the deputy speaker of the State House of Assembly One Pascal Agbodike.

The appellant’, Jude Osude and Bekilo Poultry and Agricultural Farms Ltd had appealed against the judgment of the lower court in Appeal No: CA/E/485/2017.

The appellant having not been satisfied by the judgment of the lower court as declared by Coram H.O. Ozoh approached the Enugu Appeal Court to review the judgment of the lower court and to determine among other things whether the trial judge was correct to find that the land granted the 2nd Appellant in the Appeal is different from the said land in dispute by the 1st respondent and that the appellant did not legally challenge the 1st respondent title:

This matter lingered for years and, the supreme court, in its ruling faulted the judgement of the lower court in favour of Bekilo Farms.