By Vincent Ujumadu – Awka

There is tension in Awka, the Anambra State capital following what had been described as the unrepentant behavior of some prominent indigenes of the town who have allegedly been balkanizing and selling lands in the two approved Aguaba and    Millennium City layouts.

The affected area, which runs into hundreds of hectares, have been approved to have an Olympic size stadium, schools, recreational facilities, markets, abattoirs, banks, shopping malls and residential areas.

Although some of the land owners have been working with the state government to realize the projects, some of which had already taken off, few individuals in the community were said to be posing as stumbling blocks to the projects by engaging surveyors who plot the lands to individuals and collecting money from them.

Those involved were said to have been invited for discussion on the matter, but despite the efforts, individuals who acquired the plots illegally had turned the entire layouts into a construction zone.

Worried by the development, the Anambra State government warned recently that any further trespass into the layouts would be viewed with the seriousness it deserved.

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The caveat emptor issued by the state government read: “The Anambra State ministry of lands, physical planning and rural development has noted with deep sense of concern and responsibility the spate of illegal and ongoing land transactions at Aguaba layout, which have also extended to the Millennium City layout, a dream layout of the Anambra State government and mindful of the overt consequences and implications of such disdainful acts is warning the unwary and uninformed persons that are being deceived to acquire parcels of land in the said layouts.

“Aguaba layout, Awka, which shares a common boundary with the Millennium City layout was approved by the Anambra State government in 1990 with gazette number 29, Vol 15 of 2/8/1990 and has registered trustees led by Chief Dilim Okafor whose statutory responsibility is to administer the said scheme in line with the covenants of the gazette, wellbeing of the original land owners and its occupants.

“Regrettably, illegal land transactions and activities at Aguaba layout have greatly dovetailed into the Millennium City layout and have consequently defaced a government –owned scheme and created a potential slum growth center .

“The land speculators do this by engaging surveyors, who were neither approved by government, nor authorized by the state ministry of lands to work at Aguaba layout. By this ugly deed, the state government will not fold its hands and watch the brazen impunity to the detriment of the structure plan of the Awka Capital Territory.

“The state government has also noted that a lot of uninformed persons are being misled and deceived to illegally acquire parcels of land at the Millennium City layout and Aguaba layout statutorily designed for open spaces, state stadium, schools, roads, etc. The defacement of these layouts through the activities of individuals with larger than life attitude is capable of distorting these schemes and generating community restiveness if unchecked.

“The general public is therefore warned to stop forthwith, all land transactions, negotiations, construction/development on the parcels of land at the Millennium City and Aguaba layouts that run counter to the approvals of the Anambra State government.”

In the words of the former Commissioner for lands, Chief Okey Moka, only the registered trustees and the state government approved surveyor are authorized to work in the Aguaba layout. Already, government had mandated the chairman of the board of trustees, Chief Dilim Okafor,    to take full possession, control and administration of Aguaba layout in line with the covenants of the extant, gazette and trustee act.

It also warned that the processing and issuance of title documents on parcels of land not in conformity with the government approvals at Aguaba layout and Millennium City would not be entertained, adding that plans were also at the concluding stages to enforce development control measures and ensure orderliness at the two layouts in Awka.

South East Voice observed weekend that in addition to the government position on the said layouts, the Umuike village, which owns the said lands have through their counsel, Professor Ilochi Okafor, SAN, warned that any person who had paid any money to unauthorized members of the family or to any land management committee other than Umuike Family Land Committee, should go and recover their money because they have been scammed.

Already, the Umuike family has appointed a six member Board of Trustees, including a former member of House of Representatives, Chief Chudi Offodile, Sunday Mbadugha,Dilim Okafor, Nwogu Nwonwu, Chukwudi Uchendu and OnwuraNnonyelu to represent the various families, just as 12 member land management committee was also put in place . Both the BoT and management committee have been inaugurated and have since resumed work.

Some of the people who purchased the land in the affected area told South East Voice that they were given the impression that it was the genuine owners of the land that sold to them and threatened a showdown with the people they paid money to if they were eventually driven out of the area.

Vanguard News Nigeria.