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Enugu Govt decries inimical land ownership claims against state Housing policy

By Dennis Agbo

The Enugu State Housing Development Corporation, ESHDC, has frowned at the claims by some community members where the state government’s numerous housing estates are springing up.

With particular reference, the ESHDC frowned at the capitulations from some individuals in Ugwuoba, Oji River local government Housing estate.

The Housing authority said that some mischievously sponsored publications were deceptive and inimical to sustainable rural development.

It noted that many at times, the reason for concentration of social amenities and infrastructure in Urbana areas may not actually be the fault of government officials but the unfortunate refusal of some Communities to embrace innovations, which makes such a community to remain backward and live in regret.

“In many cases, such decisions are being taken by few individuals who are after their own personal gains as against the overall interest of the Community. They could only achieve this through cheap propaganda, malicious and deceptive publications.

“Our attention was drawn to one of such recent online publications where they accused the state Housing Development Corporation of forcefully acquiring their ancestral land, asking the state government to leave their ancestoral land alone,” said the Corporation’s Public Relations Officer, …..

The corporation maintained that the publication was not only fallacious but lacks the consent and authority of the good people of Ugwuoba ommunity.

“That the land in question is a parcel of land lying along Enugu-Onitsha Express road, measuring approximately 150 hectares which was diligently and duly acquired in 1995 by the then military Administrator, Col Mike Torre and handed over to the Enugu State Housing Development Corporation with the certificate of occupancy of a dated 6th June 1996 and registered as no.38 page 38 in vol. 1071 land registry in the office at Enugu.

Prior to the issuance of the Certificate of occupancy, there was notice of revocation which was properly published in the government gazette no. ISSN(1116 -2032) vol. 5 page 12 in notice no. 18 official gazette no.  5 vol 4 of 03/6/1999.

“The corporation has commenced development of the Land since 1995 immediately after the acquisition and some buildings were at different levels before the change of government which led to the suspension of work at the Estate,” the PRO clarified.

She said that that the Corporation wonders why the sponsored publication is springing up 26 years after the land acquisition, adding that if not for change in adminstrations, the estate would have been a completed project in the past 26 years.

“All the villages including Okpuno, Agolo, Eziachi,  Anaocha and Nkpoga are beckoning on government to hurry up to develop the land while few people from Obinagu are busy trying to lay exclusive bogus claim over the entire land and at the same time tampering with the the buildings which were erected by the Corporation.

“However, irrespective of all the distractions and the frivolities coming from self-acclaimed community leaders, the Corporation is willing to listen to the geniue grievances of the bonafide people of Obinagu  as part of our host communities.”

The Corporation said it’s determined to spread development to rural areas including Oji River and other places and cannot allow enemies of progress to interfere with the good plans of the state government.

“The Corporation is using this medium to sound a note of warning to the distrsctors who are deceiving the public that we shall not hesitate to employ legal action against those people for criminal activities, trespass, false  information and libel if they fail to desist from such act. The sponsors of these falsehood will soon be unmasked and their true identities and mischievous intentions revealed.

“The general public should not only resist the devilish ideas of these selfish cancarworms, but should also know that spreading fake news on the media had become an exposed strategy,” ESHDC cautioned.