From friends to foes: Unending row over Anambra land scheme

From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha

An Onitsha-based business man, Kenneth Nwonu and his associates are fighting the battle of their lives presently.

In their words, their intentions of owning lands and becoming landlords after purchasing properties in Oba community, Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State is being thwarted and becoming a pipe dream following what they call ‘denial and prevention from taking ownership of the properties’ by some leaders of their association. They fingered one Mr Innocent Obiekezie as leader of the group.

Obiekezie tendering documents of the land deal

However, when contacted by Saturday Sun, Obiekezie denied all allegations against him. He insisted that his accusers are no longer part of the land scheme, having opted out when they felt it was a fraudulent deal.

But Nwonu is insisting that he and his associates, whom he helped to purchase the land, are being victimized unjustly. He also alleged that his life is presently under serious threat by Obiekezie.

In a chat with Saturday Sun, Nwonu recalled that the residents of Akata Close, Awada formed a social group known as Akata Forum in 2014 which was mainly for social gathering and merry making but later metamorphosed into a social club with elected officers and patrons.

Kenneth Nwonu, Azuka, Ikegwuonwu and Maduabuchi

He said that in 2017, members of the forum resolved to contribute money to purchase large expanse of land as an estate for the use of the members.

“It was in the second tenure of Innocent Obiekezie’s leadership that this idea of collective buying of lands came. There was no specific limitation for those who could buy a plot, two plots or more as all combined and joined hands to raise money for about 220 plots of land discovered at Aborji village, Oba community.

“We were given an ultimatum of four months to pay for the land in that 2017.  I paid for 15 plots that time at N400, 000 each plot. Later they said we should pay additional N125, 000 for development levy, clearing, use of bulldozers and creation of roads.

“The prospects were mouth-watering and we were all expectant because they told us it would be designed with paved roads, water supply, markets, etc,” he stated.

Nwonu further said the first inkling that they might have entered into a fraudulent deal came when they wanted to start work at the site and the committee that bought the land on their behalf started using delay tactics.

“They refused to give us allocation papers. Initially they told us that there were some issues that needed to be sorted out. We went to the land owners in Oba who said that our payment pattern was wrong and that we should pay extra N200, 000 per plot, which I paid for the 15 plots of mine. I later entered the land, moulded 4000 blocks there, and fenced the property preparatory to commencing the foundation and building proper. That was when Innocent Obiekezie and his gang stopped us,” he stated.

Nwonu said that soon after, unknown to the larger members of the  group , the leaders of the Akata Forum went behind and registered another company known as One Mind Estate Company as a corporate entity with a different mandate and objectives  with the finances of the Akata Forum.

“That was when they started the main dribbling and drilling of our finances. From the initial payment of N400, 000 they came up with the new price of N700, 000 for development levy and all sorts, telling us that if we don’t pay the new sum of money, we can’t take possession and might lose all. We thought that it was a joke but we didn’t know that they have gone behind to register One Mind Estate Ltd as their own private estate and now claimed that government has given them allocation for that our land under the new name.

“We wondered how the land we bought as a group in 2017 suddenly became another people’s property with a different name in the allocation paper in 2021. They turned into something else subsequently, broke down my fence and started writing all manner of petitions against me.

Nwonu disclosed that at this point, he and some associates in the deal declined further interest in the land and demanded a refund. But he said Obiekezie started fighting him from all fronts.

“In order to silence me from fighting for the interest of some of our foundational members of the Akata Forum who are not all that financially buoyant or influential, he decided to deal with me.

“Today, Obiekezie and his cohorts will write a cooked-up petition against me, before I could answer that one, they will report me to the state police command. From state police command to Zonal Headquarters in Ukpo. I’m the one being persecuted and intimidated but they will allege that I’m threatening their lives and planning to kill them with a deadly gang. As I’m talking now, he has sold almost all the plots of land I have there at a very high rate because the land has appreciated from the initial N400,000 we bought the place to about N7 million presently.

“They later sued me to court after I petitioned EFCC over the situation. The matter is in Ogidi High Court when he went to another court in Oba before going to another high court again in Oba coupled with the petition he wrote to Zone 13 Ukpo, all to silence me. He wrote another petition to State CID against me, rendering me financially prostrate.

“I am appealing to the government of Anambra State and my home state of Imo to come and help me. He (Innocent Obiekezie) who has been the one orchestrating all these boasted that I cannot do anything. He boasted  that only one proceed from the sales of one plot of that my land, which has appreciated now, will be enough for him to prosecute cases against me and silence me forever.

“It seems that he is achieving his aim presently because even my wife has been dragged into the predicament. They traced my wife to Onitsha main market, disgraced and arrested her there over this same matter. Let someone help me from this persecution please,” he appealed.

Some others who claimed they were part of the deal initially are also crying for help. Ikegwuonu Ekene Ifeatu, who claimed to have initially owned three plots of land there, lamented that he also bought one for a widow but today all of them have lost all.

“I joined this initiative with its noble intentions. I am appealing to the government and all concerned authorities to save us from the hands of this our former administrator. We cannot fold our hands and allow our sweat go just like that. We did this as brothers and friends but look at what has happened to us” he cried.

Mabuachi Moses from Ebonyi state is also bemoaning his fate in the ill-fated deal.  The Ohaozaraborn businessman disclosed that he bought two plots from some of the original land owners but lamented that he has lost all too.

“They plotted the lands and gave me my own and I was happy. I even bought blocks from Mr Innocent Obiekezie to erect the beacons on the land. I was planning when to build up resources and start the project when we suddenly heard that government has entered the land. They told us then that once we pay N700, 000 extra from the initial money we paid, then we are ready to start building. They told us that it is on first come, first served basis and we hurriedly sourced money to pay, but we ended up the way we are now.  We have suffered in this very land deal as they keep on dragging us to various police formations, yet no way” he said.

Azuka Divine Nwobi, from Ogbaru, recalled how he got involved in the land deal. Claiming to own two plots, he stated that he and others have receipts of all the payments made on the land.

When the reporter met with Innocent Obiekezie for his reactions on all allegations levelled against him over the land scheme, he not only denied all but insisted it was Nwonu that is actually fighting him for reasons best known to him. 

Obiekezie said that it was Nwonu that opted out of the land deal on his own, thinking that it was a fraudulent business. He said when Nwonu later realised that that the deal was real, it was already late for him to come back. He said that Nwonu’s wife got involved in the matter because she joined hands with his husband to fight him and the police when he led the police to his house to arrest him.

“Members of Akata Forum were not buoyant financially to power the land purchase when we started, so we had to involve others from outside. We didn’t know that the land sold to us initially by the Oba people belongs to the government because the place was designated as Oba Airport land.  The increment in the cost of the land was as a result of additional expenses we incurred while trying to regularise and obtain allocation from the government.

“We registered One Mind Estate because it was part of the requirements needed to apply for allocation of the land from government. We had a 10-man committee, and the same Kenneth Nwonu was among the committee members before he decided to opt out.  He was ill-advised when he started writing petitions against me, labelling me with many derogatory names. That was when I also fought back to clear my name. 

“He and the wife attacked me and the policemen that came to arrest him. Those who paid all their money are in possession of their lands today and some have even built houses there. If Nwonu did not foment trouble, balancing him wouldn’t have taken more than one day. There are evidence and documents to buttress all my claims here,” he said.