By Nsan Ndoma-Neji
Wife of clan head of Nkonib Quo clan, Ikot Ansa community, Calabar Municipality local government area in Cross River State, Mrs Arit Maurice Omin – Iso, has called on abductors of her husband to release him. Chief Maurice Omin-Iso was abducted from his residence at about 7pm on December 23, 2024 by armed men suspected to be security operatives. He was taken to an unknown destination.
The monarch’s wife made the appeal while making comments on the mysterious disappearance of her husband during a chat with our correspondent in Calabar Saturday.
Arit called on security agents to release her husband so that he can return home to join his immediate family members.
“I want my husband back home to join us. Whoever has been holding my husband hostage should please release him to us. Chief is a peaceful person who cannot even hurt a fly. I don’t know why they are holding him hostage,” she queried.
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Although no security agency has admitted being in possession of the monarch whose whereabout is yet to be known since December 23, 2024.
Findings by our correspondent however reveled that the Monarch’s travail began when he and other seven claimants dragged the state government in suit No: HC/314/2022 on behalf of (Ikot Ansa) Qua Clan to court challenging what they described as illegal acquisition of 369.579 hectares of their communal land by the state government for private purpose of Summit Hills.
Subsequently, six out of eight claimants decided to withdraw from the suit on grounds that they were not ready to fight against state government because they were not consulted before the case was filed in court.
Determined to follow the matter to the latter, Ntufam Maurice Omin Iso and Ntufam Donatus Etim continued with the matter in court and eventually settled the case with the government executed terms of settlement.
Upon realizing that Etim and Iso were making some progress with the matter, Ntufam Paul Asim Ita with members of his faction returned to same court with another application for joinder as defendants against Ntufam Maurice Omin Iso and Ntufam Donatus Etim, alleging that Maurice and Donatus did not seek community’s consent before going to court.
After hearing of the application, the court dismissed and refused the joinder on grounds that the parties seeking to be joined having withdrawn from the suit cannot in turn bring an application for joinder as defendants against the claimants that are Maurice and Donatus in the same suit.
On March 7, 2022 at High Court 2, the presiding judge, Hon Justice B.T Ebuta, after describing the act of the six claimants as an attempt to frustrate Justice of the Case, ruled against the parties seeking to be joined as defendants.
The court thereafter ordered the release of 23 hectares of the land to Maurice and Donatus. In compliance with the Judgment of the Court, the then Attorney General of Cross River State late Mr. Tanko Ashang (SAN), thereafter wrote in a letter in March 31, asking the Surveyor General of the State to carve out 23 hectares from the contentious plot of land and hand it over to Maurice and Donatus in line with the consent judgment of the High Court.
A letter dated March 11, 2022 from Summit Hills also directed the Surveyor General of the state to follow suit to the claimants.
Our correspondent gathered that in compliance and obedience to the consent judgment, the Attorney General of the State on September 30, 2022 wrote to Ntufam Maurice and Ntufam Donatus, formally handing over the 23 hectares of the said land to the claimants.
When Paul Asim Ita and his faction who had earlier withdrawn from the case and also failed in all their efforts to frustrate the judgment, again filed a case in the High Court in HC/147/2022 asking the court to set aside the consent judgment entered in HC/314/2021.
Hon Justice Elias Abuo dismissed the case seeking to set aside the consent judgment. It was gathered that when the faction having failed in all areas, they thereafter approached the Cross River State Governor for a familiarization visit and declared their intentions to cross carpet from the PDP to APC just to curry the governor’s favour so that he can assist members of the faction reverse the consent judgment so that the land can be handed over to their faction who had earlier withdrawn from the suit.
However, on April 4 ,2024 the present Attorney General of the state through executive order of the state government, purportedly wrote a letter handing the same land to Paul Assim Ita, despite the earlier consent judgement.
Similarly, the state Commissioner for Lands in a publication dated April 10, 2024 and 16, published in the Nigerian Chronicles page 15, handing over the same 23 hectares of that parcel of land in question to Paul Assim Ita, purportedly revoking the layout plan earlier approved and issued to the claimants in line with the consent judgment, thereby handing over the land to Assim Ita’s faction irrespective of the consent judgment.
Consequent upon this, Ntufam Maurice Omin Iso and Ntufam Donatus Etim approached the High Court in Cross River State in Suit No. HC/86/2024, seeking for an order setting aside the purported handing over of the said land to Assim Ita and his cohorts for perpetual injunction restraining the 1st -3rd defendants from handing over any part of the 23 hectares of land released to the claimants in 2022 by the Government of Cross River State in compliance with the consent judgment of the High Court of Cross River State in suit number HC/314/2021 filed in March 7, 2021 among other reliefs sought.
Sadly, during the pendency of suit number HC/86/2024 which challenge the flagrant disobedience of the judgement of the High Court, the Attorney General of Cross River State via an executive order of the state governor wrote to the Police requesting coverage for Paul Assim Ita and his faction to enter and bulldoze Beacons and altered the already approved plan thereby causing breakdown of law and order within the Area,
However, while the suit challenging validity and legality of the actions of the Cross River State government and Paul Assim Ita was still pending and judgment reserved for February 4, 2025, unfortunately, on December 23, 2024 at about 7pm a group of armed men who an eye witness said stormed Ntufam Maurice Omin Iso’s residence with an ash color ford ranger van and a Red Corolla Car, whisked away Maurice Iso to a yet to be known destination leaving the victim’s family in agony.
However, lead counsel to the monarch Chief Obono Obla, who earlier declined comment on the issue, insisted that the Attorney General knows the whereabout of his client.
Obla claimed that on January 4, 2025 during a phone conversation, the Attorney General, Mr Ededem Charles Ani, had admitted that the abducted monarch, chief Maurice Iso, whose whereabout is yet to be known by family was arrested by security operatives and kept in custody of DSS because he was becoming a security risk.
He alleged that the Attorney General is angry with Maurice for installing his brother as Clan Head, grabbed lands belonging to the government, and carved out a community in Ikot Ansa for himself.
“The AG promised that Chief Maurice would be released but would be charged to court,” Obla maintained.
On the contrary, the Attorney General (AG) and Commissioner for justice of the state, Ededem Ani, in a statement released on Thursday night, alleged that the various media reports linking him and his office to the incident were all false and baseless, denying any involvement in Chief Maurice Omin Iso’s travail, stressing that the media reports were attempt calculated to tarnish his good image built over the years.
But Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court Calabar, in suit No. FHC/CA/CS/3/2025, had early this month ordered the Department of State Security, DSS, and the Attorney General to produce Iso in court on January 15, 2025.
Continuing, Ani argued that there was no record of any judgment in favour of Chief Maurice Omin Iso, against the Cross River State Government involving land or chieftaincy issues.
He asked that if Iso was abducted and detained on December 21, how was he able to show up at Zone Six for questioning on December 23, 2024?
Also reacting on the issue, one of the community youth leaders in the area, Mbora Bassey, stated that the motive behind the abduction of Chief Maurice Omin Iso by security agents suspected to be backed by government officials, from his residence at Esuk Otu, Ikot Ansa, Calabar Municipality local government area of Cross River State was as a result of land dispute.
