Asaba landowners ask Oborevwori to step into university land dispute after demolitions

More than 300 people whose buildings were pulled down in Anwai, Asaba, have appealed to Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to step into their long land dispute with Dennis Osadebay University (DOU).

The property owners, who organise under the name Parkview Estates, Anwai, spoke to reporters after a sitting of the High Court in Asaba. They said their buildings were demolished on 14 May 2024 by the Delta State Taskforce on Recovery of Government Lands, even though a court case over the land was still running.

They also said a court order had barred further action on the land at the time.

The chairman of Parkview Estates, Chief Charles Ogbobe, called the demolition devastating. He said it wiped out investments worth millions of naira, left families without homes and caused deep financial and emotional pain.

The land sits at Musa Camp in Anwai, which the Asagba of Asaba has renamed Ugbomanta. The residents say they bought it from the Isieke community, which they say holds documents proving ownership.

At the heart of the fight are competing claims between the community and the state-owned university. Ogbobe said the land was first leased to a colonial administrator, Reverend Prior, in 1953 for 50 years, and that the lease ran out in 2003.

We never disputed the government's right to own land, but we asked them to provide evidence of ownership

He said between 12 and 13 people affected by the demolition have died since then, which he blamed on hardship and distress.

What the court has asked for

According to Ogbobe, the High Court has directed both sides to produce survey plans that mark out the boundaries of the disputed property.

The vice-chairman of the estate, Mr Samuel Onuwa David, alleged the buildings came down before a seven-day notice to occupants had run out, despite residents' efforts to get an injunction. He said he lost a private school, his home and four buildings belonging to relatives. He also said documents in his possession show the university's lease expired in 1991, which conflicts with the 2003 date given by the chairman.

David appealed to the governor to treat the matter as a father would.

Let him compensate us for the houses that were demolished and give us back our land

Another owner, Mr Christian Nwaolisa, said he came back from northern Nigeria to settle in his home state, only to lose the building he had put up with a Certificate of Occupancy and government building approval.

Mr Chuks Okei said he bought his land from the community, surveyed it and got approval before starting work in 2020. He spent about three years on the property before it was demolished.

The residents want the governor to look into how the dispute and the demolition came about, and to make sure justice is done.