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Imo communities battle govt, church over communal land

Published

10 months ago

April 21, 2025

The controversy surrounding the ownership of the former premises of Imo State Polytechnic, Orlu campus has taken a different dimension, as the people of Umuire, Eluama, Ndiowerre and Ndikabia in Orlu Autonomous Community, have dragged the Imo State Government and the Orlu Catholic Diocese to court, seeking to repossess their land.

In the case, with Suit No: HOR/48/2025, between, Chijioke Odogwu, Venatius Nnuyi and Hon Elijah P.N. Uzomba as representatives of the Communities against the State Government and the incorporated Trustees of the Catholic Diocese of Orlu, the communities, are praying that the court should determine the original owners of the land.

The plaintiffs, in the statement of claim signed by their lawyer, N.O. Chukwuezi, stated that sometime between 1945 and 1946, some Irish missionaries arrived Orlu and were looking for a place to establish a secondary school.

They stated that their fathers welcomed the Irish missionaries and their desire to establish a school and jointly donated a part of their land known as Uhu Agu to them where they built Bishop Shanahan College (BSC), Orlu.

The communities recalled that the school was then managed for the Irish missionaries by the Marist Brothers.

The Plaintiffs averred that after some time, the same Irish missionaries approached the community again, to give them the remaining Uhu Agu land opposite Bishop Shanahan College for them to use as a temporary place for training teachers.

They stated that at that period, their fathers refused to make an outright donation of the land to the missionaries but merely granted them the right to stay on the land pending when they will conclude their assignment and leave.

Based on that premise, the Plaintiffs showed the missionaries a little portion of their jointly owned Uhu Agu land opposite Bishop Shanahan College, where the missionaries raised few temporary structure for Teacher-Training College.

The lawyer further revealed that another portion was given to the church for Pastoral Centre.

The Plaintiffs further averred that one of the conditions for showing the Irish missionaries the land was that the missionaries would be paying rent to them on a yearly basis through their Traditional Rulers, an agreement the plaintiffs claimed had been carried out religiously by the missionaries until the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War in 1967 which disrupted the school’s academic calendar.

“When the War ended in 1970, the College’s premises were taken over by the 24 Battalion of the Nigerian Army.

“The Army continued to occupy the land until 1973 when the then Government of East Central State took over all schools owned by the Government ,including BSTC,” the plaintiffs stated.

They recalled that the government continued to run and manage the school before the then Government of Imo State converted the site to a campus of Alvan Ikoku College of Education, following the exit of the former occupants.

The communities’ representatives further stated that In the process, the government expanded the school and took over other adjoining parcels of the land belonging to them and built a block wall right round it.

“In 1982, the then Government of Imo State returned the campus of Alvan Ikoku College of Education to Owerri and established Technical Skills Acquisition Centre (TESAC) thereon which was renamed Technical Skills Acquisition Institute (TESAI) under the regime of Governor Ikedi Ohakim.

“During the regime of Governor Rochas Okorocha, he made the place a campus of Imo State Polytechnic which the present Government has moved to Omuma in Oru East Local Government Area.

“Following this move, the land became vacant for us the original owners to take back, but surprisingly, the State Government handed the land to the church without our knowledge,” they claimed.

They argued that since the State Government and the former occupant of the land were no longer in need of the land in question, that they lacked the powers to hand the land to a third party.

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Man in shock after lady he lodged with in a hotel in Abuja flees with his car and other valuables

Published

8 hours ago

February 6, 2026

Ekwutos Blog

A Nigerian man is currently in shock after a young lady identified as Precious Chinyere , whom he took to a hotel in the Asokoro area in the FCT for a romantic getaway allegedly fled with his car and other personal belongings on Thursday, February 5,

The distraught man and Precious had visited the hotel and opted for a short time stay. Things took a different in the evening when the man noticed Precious had left the hotel room without notifying him and took along with her some of his personal belongings including phones and laptop and also his car.

The victim immediately reported the incident to the police.

When contacted, the spokesperson of the FCT police command, SP Josephine Adeh, told LIB that the matter is currently being investigated and that efforts are being made to apprehend the suspect.

News

US Reacts As De@th Toll In Kwara Terror Attacks Hits 200

Published

12 hours ago

February 6, 2026

Ekwutos Blog

The United States Mission in Nigeria has condemned the k!lling of more than 200 civilians in recent attacks on communities in Kwara State.

Recall that terrorists launched de@dly attacks on Woro and Nuku communities in Kaiama Local Government Area of the state on Tuesday night, k!lling unsuspecting citizens.

It was gathered that the gunmen invaded the villages, opened fire on residents and burned homes.

According to reports, the de@th toll from the unfortunate incident hit 200 on Thursday night.

Reacting, the US Mission Nigeria condemned the k!lling via a post on its official X handle.

The post reads, “The United States condemns the horrific attack in Kwara state in Nigeria, which claimed the lives of more than 160 people, with the de@th toll still unconfirmed and many still unaccounted for.

“We express our deepest condolences to the families of those affected by this senseless violence.

“We welcome President Tinubu’s order to deploy security forces to protect villages in the area and his directive to federal and state officials to provide aid to the community and bring the perpetrators of this atrocity to justice.”

News

“I’ll never settle for a barber, yahoo boy or a poor man” — nail tech’s list of men she says she can’t marry sparks reactions online

Published

15 hours ago

February 6, 2026

Ekwutos Blog

A Nigerian nail technician has set social media talking after openly listing the kind of men she says she can never settle for.

In a now-viral post, she stated clearly that she refuses to “settle for less” and went on to mention professions and traits she considers a no-go area.

According to her, she can never settle for a barber, an aza man, a yahoo boy, a mechanic, an actor, a laundry man, a hype man, or a plumber. She also added that she wouldn’t marry a man with a high body count or a poor man.