A review of land documents and
investigative reports by relevant
authorities has confirmed that a former
lawmaker, Ned Nwoko, duly acquired the land on which he is building a golf
course and a university in his hometown
in Delta State.
Ned Nwoko’s acquisition of 90 hectares
of land for a golf course and another two
miles by two miles parcel of land for a
university had sparked controversy at
his native Idumuje-Ugboko in Aniocha
North Local Government Area of Delta
State.
While all palace chiefs, the town
development union and a majority of
residents, local and state governments
authorities, as well as law enforcement
agencies, are queueing behind the
former lawmaker, saying he acquired the
land legitimately, a camp led by
Chukwunonso Nwoko, the first son of
the late king of the community, has
continued to battle the businessman
over the property.
The land crisis soon became linked to a
kingship succession tussle in the
community after the death of the king,
Albert Nwoko, culminating in a violent
clash in May 2017.
A motorcycle taxi operator identified as
Cyprian Kumaroun was allegedly killed
in the clash during which some leaders
of the community, believed to be
backing Ned Nwoko, were also beaten
up and their properties vandalised.
Following the violent clash, the police
charged some suspects to court but the
case was thrown out after some of the
suspects had spent about three years in
police and prison custody.
The Ned Nwoko Land Acquisition
Ned Nwoko was a member of the House
of Representatives from 1999 to 2003.
On March 16, 2015, he applied to the
then king of the town, Albert Nwoko, for
allocation of 90 hectares from the land
set aside by the community for
development projects.
In the application he made through his
company, Linas International Ltd, Ned
Nwoko, who is also a member of the
ruling family of the community, said he
wanted to build a golf course on the
land.
He also requested another two miles by
two miles parcel of land to build the
permanent site of his private university.
The former lawmaker has started
developing the temporary site of the
STAR University on a part of 33 hectares
of land the community had earlier
allocated to him in 2001 to start a dairy
farm.

In his response to the fresh application,
through a letter addressed to Mr Nwoko
and dated April 10, 2015, the king
conveyed his approval of the
application.
In the letter titled “Request for Additional
90 Hectares of Land for Golf Course
Development and Land for Sports
University”, the king said “the town will
go into partnership with your company
by investing the capitalized value of the
land at the appropriate rate in the golf
course. The land for the university will
be donated by the village.”
Ned Nwoko then paid one million naira
to the community to cover the
administrative cost of land cutting and
allocation, as confirmed by a
handwritten receipt signed by the
community secretary, Somanyina
Nwoko, and dated June 2, 2015.
This was followed on July 16, 2015, by a
“Letter of Allocation” also signed by the
community secretary.
Aniocha and the Customary Right of
Occupancy
On July 8, 2015, Mr Nwoko through his
said company applied to the Aniocha
North Local Government for a
Customary Right of Occupancy (CRO)
for the 90 hectares of land.
In line with the law, the local
government council published a Public
Notice on the application on December
14, 2015, seeking any objection that
might discourage it from granting the
CRO.
Seven months later on July 20, 2016,
the local government issued the CRO for
the land through a letter addressed to
Mr Nwoko.
Chuks Oseme, the chairman of the local
government at the time, said after
Prince Chukwunonso and his camp
raised objection over the allocation of
the land to Mr Nwoko, he made a fact-
finding visit to the late king.
“As a result of an objection, I decided to
pay the Obi a visit for further clarification
in which I discovered that Prince Ned’s
claims were genuine in which the then
Obi confirmed issuing the approval letter
following the recommendation by the
land allocation committee,” Mr Oseme
said. “The Right of Occupancy was
therefore issued with all the necessary
procedures followed.”
Chukwunonso Nwoko Vs Ned Nwoko:
The battles
Although several documents and palace
chiefs confirmed that Mr Nwoko duly
acquired the 90 hectares of land, the
acquisition is being challenged by the
Prince Chukwunonso camp which also
filed a civil suit on the matter.
According to the Memorandum of
Understanding between the community
and Mr Nwoko, the community would
take a 40 per cent share in the golf
course to be built on the 90 hectares of
land.
Although it was stated in the MoU that
the 90 hectares for the golf course is the
community’s land, Mr Nwoko said the
neighbouring town of Onicha-Ugbo later
established its ownership of about 80
per cent of the land and has taken
compensation from him.
Mr Nwoko also presented evidence of
compensation paid to some members of
the Idumuje-Ugboko community who
proved they had farms on portions of the
land.
However, all that could not avert the
dispute over the allocation of the land.
The crisis, which has now snowballed
into a dispute over the throne of the
community, flared a few months after
the king communicated the approval of
the application to Mr Nwoko.
This occurred after a letter dated August
12, 2015, was read in churches in the
community in which the late king was
quoted to have disproved the allocation
of the land. The letter was circulated by
Prince Chukwunonso and two other
princes.
Walters Eziashi, a former President of
the Idumuje-Ugboko Development Union
(IDU) and an ally of Ned Nwoko, said
efforts by prominent indigenes to clarify
the turn of event from the king were
frustrated by Prince Chukwunonso and
his brothers who blocked access to their
father. At that time, the king was 89,
weak and mostly kept indoors at the
palace. He died two years later in 2017.
On January 16, 2016, the princes filed a
civil suit at the Issele-Uku high court,
claiming the process for the land
allocation was improper. The
respondents in the suit were Aniocha
North Local Government council, Ned
Nwoko, and his company Linas
International Ltd.
The chief judge of the state later
reassigned Suit No. HCI/2/2016 to
another judge and it is still ongoing at
the Agbor High Court. But one of the
princes, Edwin Nwoko, has since
withdrawn from the suit.
While the princes accused Ned Nwoko
of forging their father’s signature on the
letter communicating the allocation of
the land, the former lawmaker on his
part accused the princes of forging the
signature of their father on the letter of
disproval.
The Police Wade In
The two sides then wrote petitions to
the police in which they traded
accusations of forgery of the signature
of the king. In the petition by Ned
Nwoko, his ally, Mr Eziashi, urged the
police to investigate the veracity of the
letter of disproval.
On their part, the three princes, through
their lawyer, Ezenwah and Ezenwah,
accused Ned Nwoko of forging the Obi’s
signature and of threatening the life of
Prince Chukwunonso. In another petition
of March 17, 2017, they accused Ned
Nwoko and others of harassment. They
also alleged that he forcefully entered
and desecrated the palace.
But the police have since issued an
investigative report, saying the signature
of the king on the two documents was
genuine. But the report also indicted the
princes of a criminal act and
recommended their prosecution. It
stated:
“The investigation further revealed that
Prince Justin (Chukwunonso) Nwoko
conspired with Ejimofor Nwoko,
Izehumo Nwoko and Richard Nwoko and
fraudulently used their relationship with
HRM A. O. Nwoko (JP) to procure him
to sign a document purporting to be
denying the above portion of land which
the community had earlier granted to the
owner of Linas International Limited
without the knowledge of the Izu-ani
members,” the police said.
“It is glaringly clear from the foregoing
findings that though His Royal Majesty,
Obi A.O. Nwoko 111 (JP) signed all the
documents in relation to Idumuje-
Ugboko community land but the discreet
investigation into the signing processes
by Obi A.O. Nwoko unequivocally
revealed that Prince Justin Nwoko
acting in concert with Ejimofor Nwoko,
Izehumo Nwoko and Richard Nwoko
fraudulently used their intimate
relationship and took advantage of Obi
A.O. Nwoko 111 who is currently
bedridden to procure him into signing a
document purporting to be denying the
land which the Idumuje-Ugboko
community had earlier granted to Prince
Ned Nwoko to build golf course
development and sport university after a
due consideration of the request by Izu-
ani members and it is on this premise
that we humbly recommend that Prince
Justin Nwoko and his cohorts should be
charged to court for the offences
provided in section 516,249 (D) and 471
of the Criminal Code Law of Delta State
as this will go a long way to ensure
peace and harmony in the said Idumuje-
Ugboko.
“The suspects will soon be charged to
court please.”
Reprieve for Ned Nwoko as Delta
Intervenes
On February 24, 2016, the police invited
the three princes, Chukwunonso,
Ejimofor and Richard; and the others
named in Mr Eziashi’s petition.
They were subsequently charged before
a magistrate court in the state capital,
Asaba, in Suit No SMC/420C/2016. The
court granted them bail but because
they could not meet the conditions
immediately, they spent some days in
police custody.
Four years on, the issues remain
unresolved and most of the cases are
still before the court.
Apart from the investigation carried out
by the Delta State Command of the
Police, the police headquarters in Abuja
also looked into the case based on a
complaint by Chris Alaigbe and a few
other individuals. The petitioners had
accused Ned Nwoko of unleashing
terror on their community and grabbing
land from peasant farmers.
But in its report dated November 23,
2020, the Inspector-General of Police
Monitoring Unit said its investigation
showed that the allegations against Ned
Nwoko were false and that the disputed
parcels of land were legitimately
acquired by the businessman.
PREMIUM TIMES also learnt that the
Delta State Command of the State
Security Service also investigated the
matter and came to the same
conclusion.
The Delta State government has also
conducted an inquiry into the matter,
with a team led by Edwin Uzor (the
special adviser to the governor on
peacebuilding and conflict resolution)
meeting with all parties to the crisis.
In a February 18, 2021 report, the
investigative team reached the following
conclusions:
– That the Chairman, Linas International
Limited of No. 4 Anambra River
Crescent, Maitama Abuja, Nigeria,
followed due process in procuring the
said land.
– That all the necessary documents
such as survey plan, university brochure,
His Royal Majesty Obi Albert Nwoko and
community approval of the entire land
were obtained.
– There was an MOU between Linas
International Limited and Idumuje-
Ugboko community.
– That the police investigation, as
signed by ACP Banmaminan,
recommended that Prince Justin
Chukwunonso Nwoko should be
charged to court of competent
jurisdiction for giving false information
to the police contrary to Section 125 (A)
of criminal code law as it is evidently
clear that his life was not threatened as
alleged.
The team then recommended that the
contentious parcels of land should
remain allocated to Ned Nwoko since a
police forensic investigation clearly
established that the land acquisition
documents in the possession of the
former lawmaker are authentic.
Having been cleared by law enforcement
and other authorities, Ned Nwoko has,
therefore, proceeded with the building of
the mini campus of the university and
the golf course. In May, the Minister of
State for Education, Chukwuemeka
Nwajiuba, visited the project in
connection with the processing of its
application for a licence from the
National Universities Commission (NUC)
.
When our reporters met Prince
Chukwunonso, he insisted his battle
with Ned Nwoko is far from over despite
the verdicts of several authorities on the
matter. “This fight will not end until
justice is done,” he said
On his part, Mr Nwoko said in spite of
the controversy and years-long attacks
on him by the Prince Chukwunonso
camp, he remained committed to
developing and entrenching peace in his
Idumuje-Ugboko community.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/467665-authorities-exonerate-ex-lawmaker-ned-nwoko-of-land-grabbing-allegation.html

Money has exchanged hands. In Nigeria, the rich can never be guilty.

What money cannot do doesn't exist

Ned the Igbo Muslim turtled-head old man with a pedophilic behaviour.

Those princes' should go and make money before fighting such an influential man

Nkitara:
Ned the Igbo Muslim turtled-head old man with a pedophilic behaviour.

lol

OP, please, can you arrange it

I could not even read it and did not

Well, he has money and power

who is authority?

Same Ned that supported twitter ban can do anything to stifle the truth