Senator Rochas Okorocha, a former Governor of Imo State, has been indicted for land grabbing by the committee set up by the State Government for the recovery of land belonging to the Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri, MUK TV has learned.
According to The Punch, the committee said Okorocha used brute force to dispose of the college’s land.
In the report signed by the chairman, Prof. Vitalis Orikeze Ajumbe, and the secretary, B. F. Anyanwu, and submitted to Governor Hope Uzodimma, the committee recommended the recovery of the Shell Camp land from Okorocha and his associates within six months and handing the same over to the institution.
The committee regretted that Okorocha, as governor, used brute force, including the military and hoodlums, to snatch the land from the college, after which he allocated or sold the same to his top associates.
Those who benefited from the bazaar and have been similarly asked to vacate the land include two of Okorocha’s in-laws, Dr. Uzoma Anwuka, and a former Deputy Chief of Staff to Okorocha and ex-member of the House of Representatives, Kingsley Uju.
Apart from Okorocha’s in-laws, a former Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Chief Acho Ihim; the current MD of the Imo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, Chief Charles Orie; Prince Charles Amadi; and Ugochukwu Hillary also benefited from the illegal acquisition.
The committee regretted that Okorocha ordered the demolition of 101 buildings belonging to the staff of the college and thereafter confiscated their property.
It, therefore, urged the Imo State Executive Council to direct the recovery of all the lands belonging to AIFCE, which are now illegally in the hands of individuals and institutions.
It further asked the state government to ensure the recovery of the land within six months and thereafter issue a Certificate of Occupancy to the college.
“AIFCE should take full possession of the vacated land and property immediately upon recovery, while the Commissioner for Lands and Owerri Capital Development Authority should recover the land within six months,” the committee recommended.
It was further recommended that AIFCE should pay the agreed compensation to Orji indigenes, who are the original owners of the land, while the Army should vacate the shanties they erected on the land and finally move to Obinze.
Responding, Governor Uzodimma thanked the committee for doing a thorough job and promised that the state government would take all necessary steps through due process to implement the committee’s recommendations.
