A senior lawyer, Mba Ukweni (SAN), has urged Cross River Governor, Prince Bassey Otu to heed the advice of the State Solicitor General on the contentious Cocoa Estate in Etung local government area.
The legal luminary made the appeal on Wednesday during an interview with journalists at the Magistrate Court, Moore Road, Calabar.
According to Ukweni, “the present Solicitor General of the state had written a letter, drawing the governor’s attention to the fact that these characters have interest in those estate in conflict with the interest of the state.”
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria was speaking against the backdrop of ongoing trial of Mr Oscar Ofuka, former Special Adviser to erstwhile governor Ben Ayade on Cocoa Development.
He alleged that Ofuka’s trial was instigated by the Secretary to the State Government and the State Security Adviser.
“Most of you are aware of this problem. It is the Cocoa in Etung. I must be frank to state it clearly that the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Anthony Owan-Enoh, using the State Security Adviser, Major General O.U. Obono Rtd, and now want to eliminate my client.
“Most of them have been working behind to appropriate the farm and sell part of it. There’s a vast portion of land they want to sell to one Prince Mark. It was Ofuka who met with the governor in their presence and let the governor knows that that parcel of land does not belong to the grand father of Prince Mark.
“And that there’s even a judgement of the court in favour of the state government. There have been various litigations in respect of this. We even have an order of the High Court of Etung.”
However, during the appearance of Oscar Ofuka who is standing trial at the Magistrate Court on allegation of murder that took place at the Cocoa Estate, the judge, Magistrate Okoho, ordered that he be taken to the Police Clinic Calabar to access medical care due to his health condition.
Meanwhile, the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Anthony Owan-Enoh and the State Security Adviser, Major General Obono, have since denied their involvement in the trial of Oscar Ofuka.
