Commissioner for Lands in Enugu State, Dr. Victor Chukwuemeka Nnam, has denied knowledge of any case of forgery that he is alleged to have perpetuated when he consulted for a certain private estate company.
Responding to media reports that he’s been tried over the claims, he described the allegations as the handiwork of some desperate mischief makers, hell-bent on dispossessing people of their ancestral lands, using blackmail and legal threats.
The Commissioner advised the general public to disregard the claims, as there was no iota of truth therein. He insisted that he has always acted professionally and would continue to do so even as Commissioner of Lands in Enugu State.
Reacting to claims that a case of forgery had been filed against him by the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, Nnam, through his legal aide, Emm Onyibor, opined that he doesn’t believe in the existence of such a case.
Speaking to Daily Sun, the commissioner’s aide said: “For the records, the eight-count charges that you speak of should be considered incompetent and lacking in basic facts. They’re obviously frivolous and malicious and should be treated as such.
“As a public servant and in his private practice, the commissioner demonstrated utmost professionalism and this hatchet job of certain misguided elements should not be taken seriously.
“He’s not a lawyer, but he’s certainly educated enough to know that the Federal Government cannot take up a land case that is not within the Federal Capital Territory. Initiating one without the consent of the Attorney General of the State maybe considered an abuse of the Land Use Act.
“I want to state categorically that as a public officer, my client’s first line of responsibility and allegiance would remain, the Enugu State Government. I will not be beholden to clients in the course of my erstwhile private practice or even to land grabbers and will continue to discharge my duties accordingly to ensure sanity in land administration in Enugu State.”
Reacting to the suit and allegation, Paul Ogbe, a leader in Obeagu Akwunanaw Community, Enugu South described the allegation of forgery as baseless, untrue and lacking in substance.
Ogbe called out Mr Kingsley Eze, the owner of Private Estate International West Africa Ltd as being behind the malicious suit and frivolous allegation. He said that these must have stemmed from the commissioner’s insistence that due process must be followed in handling the illegal acquisition of 1097 hectares of Obeagu and Amechi land
Members of Ogbe’s Obeagu as well as Amechi Uwani Communities are the owners of the land in question which forms part of their ancestral home/farm lands. Kingsley Eze claimed same to be Enugu Lifestyle and Golf City land covered by Certificate of Occupancy dated 10th November 2009 and registered as No. 20 at Page 20 in Volume 1622 at the Enugu State Lands Registry without telling the public that the said purported Certificate of Occupancy of his had been revoked since 2019, the revocation published in the Sun Newspaper of 27th November, 2019.
Eze had allegedly falsified the survey plan he used in registering the land, backdated it to 1985 as original allocation titled Enugu State University of Science and Technology, at which time Enugu State and the School were not in existence.
The President of Obeagu Town Union Chief Andy Egbo was also contacted by this reporter.
He averred that the forgery allegations were outright lies and only exist in the imagination of Kingsley Eze and his co- travellers, and that they are out to seek for a pound of flesh as the Honourable Commissioner of Lands thwarted Eze’s plan to illegally acquire their land with a forged survey plan.
He wondered how a PhD holder in forgery will be accusing a PhD holder in Survey of forgery.
He described Commissioner Nnam as a responsible and worthy son of Nkanu Land, whose unblemished track record of service both in private practice as a Surveyor and public service as Commissioner speaks for itself.
He urged the general public to ignore the allegations as they typify the struggles of a drowning man who would clutch even to a straw.
Reacting, Eze said: “The case filed against Enugu State Commissioner for Lands was instituted by the Hon. Attorney General and Minister of Justice and I have absolutely no personal involvement and have no reason to be desperate. But I believe it is civil and appropriate for responsible entities to use the courts to achieve ideal objectives.”
THE EASTERN UPDATES
