By Nsan Ndoma-Neji
Ntufam Mba Ukweni (SAN), is human rights lawyer and counsel to allottees of contentious 1,415 hectares of cocoa hectares leased out by immediate past administration led by Prof Ben Ayade, to enable the administration get money to defray 16-years-old debt that state Government owed landlords communities of Etung local government area in Cross River State. A trending issue that dragged state government into a legal battle with the allottees who claimed government had no justification to evict them from the farms that they had legally paid for.
Despite ongoing arguments in court, government attempted to evict the allottees out of the estate, a development that has led to some of the claimants being arrested and thrown into police cell to cool their heels following allegations of murder hanging on their necks.
NSAN NDOMA-NEJI brings you excerpts of that interview shortly after the court granted order of injunction restraining government from evicting the allottees from the purported 1,415 hectares.
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Question: What is your name?
I am Ntufam Mba Ukweni, by the Grace of God Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
Question: Can you tell us what actually transpired at the high court which sat at Effraya today?
We got to court this morning, and when his lordship the trial judge justice Ebri, came out he drew our attention to the order he made on the last adjourned date, the date before the last adjourned that the court did not sit, that he had directed that the lawyer representing the government did not show authority from the attorney general to represent the government. We had already known that he has a letter of instruction which he tendered and we have our own copy.
You know there were two set of cases, the lawyer had a copy one, and then we assisted him with other of our own copy which covers the second batch of the cases.
So that was done. But we also for the purposes of enlightening members of the bar, also for all of us to learn. So we drew the court attention to a matter I personally did from the magistrate court then to the Supreme Court then that once a lawyer had appeared in a matter, it is only the person he said he is representing, who has the authority who can challenge his representation. Not even the court canndo that. We have to clear the air, and the judge ruled on the point. And then we proceeded to deliver his ruling, granting the application for interlocutory injunction which was conceded to, by counsel to the defendants W.S Ogar Esq.
So as it stands now, the application for interlocutory injunction has been granted restraining the government that he read the clear terms of the order which will be made available to the press when it is strong. The clear terms of the order is made specified in the release seeking that he granted an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the defendants.
For your information again, the first defendant is the government of Cross River State, the second is the attorney general of Cross River state and Commissioner for justice, the third is the Commissioner for Agriculture and the fourth is Mr. Cosmos Ebori Nku. The order of injunction restraints these defendants, their agents, servants, cohorts assigns, collaborators, or privies in whatever guise they may assumed, from harassing, threatening, intimidating evicting from or attempting to evict, leasing or allocating and interfering with the claimants rights, over the hectares of cocoa farm land, in the government cocoa estate, already leased and allocated to them by the government of Cross River State under the small holders scheme at the Cross River state cocoa estate which the claimants had paid for and the injunction is to last pending the determination of the substantive suit.
Nobody is to disturb the claimants in their position and use of the land. The order is very clear, as to the extent to which it has gone. If we perceive any one taking a step to interfere with that position, of the area, we will go after that person for contempt no matter how highly placed, Because we see it as an affront to the rule of law and to the judiciary. I make bold to say that by the grace of God having risen to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria SAN, we are like guardian of the threshold.
Besides the fact that it’s a matter which I am involved in. Even if it’s a matter which I am not involved in, we cannot sit back and see anybody no matter how highly placed that the person make nonsense of the judicial system.
I have made it open to the SSG and also reported in the open court, after the order was granted that, some of the claimant that is why they were not here in court because they were arrested.
In fact the first set that were arrested, could have been there by two weeks by now. After detaining them for that length of time on Monday, they went to the magistrate court, seeking an order of the magistrate court to extend time by twenty one days for them to continue detaining them, as if we are in the military regime. Even military regime never did that, requesting the police for 21 additional days to enable them continue with the investigation.
The well- trained and learned magistrate looked at it and frown at that it will be an infringement on the fundamental right of the people. And he has even seen the list submitted by the state security adviser as those who were involved in the killing of the person they said was killed in a farm which is not closed to our own. And I reported to the judge that the persons who were around that area had made a statement in the police at Ikom. And even the government knows those who were involved
They are just using this method to harass our client and intimidate them from entering their farms and work legitimately.
Question: Which of the magistrate court, is it in Ikom or Calabar magistrate court?
In Calabar here, refused the application and asked them to go and release them. But yesterday they went back; the police went back to Etung.
Question: To Do what?
To arrest another set, and to see the criminality involved, when the police got to the road, they took the suspects into the bush, robbed them of their money at gun point, forced one f the suspects to transfer N3.something million naira into the accounts of one of the police officers. As God could have it, when they got to the zone 6 police headquarters, the suspect raised an alarm and the faire minded superior police officer insisted on why the suspect was crying up to that point even though his captors were not prepared to allow him to speak but they eventually allowed him to say, sir ask this man to show you his phone.
They robbed us and took us into the bush, and at gun point, they robbed us of our money. He insisted is should transfer all the money into his account. This is my debit; ask him to show you his phone. While they asked him to bring out his phone, the alert was in his phone. I learned that the superior officer on the directive of Assistant Inspector of Police (AIG), moved those people into detention.
But, we are not going to stop there. We will make our formal complain to the appropriate quarters. We must exist in a society where there is law and order. People cannot be in position and use supposedly to maintained law and order for lawlessness. We can’t exist like that. If they don’t know it is not even safe for them. It is not good for them. Those are the trending issues that are coming up now.
Question: What is the legal position of the allottees?
They are in possession of the land. They have been given allocation. We have the agreement, signed by the government, prepared by the attorney general of Cross River State. Money paid into coffers of Cross River State internal revenue account. It wasn’t paid to an individual; Oscar Ofuka was never given any money. Money paid into government revenue account. And the former governor knowing that the government of Cross River state had been owing cocoa landlord communities, for number of years, directed that those money be paid,
used in settling the indebtedness to enable the government enter those estate peacefully, because they was already restrictiveness in the area.
Then they are complaining of the number of years. Money was collected from these people for that number of years in order to cover the amount of money the government is owing the landlord communities. If they don’t understand, let them know it. It is not that Oscar Ofuka intended to extend the tenure of the lease beyond the tenure for governor Ayade.
Question: Are you aware that there are allegations in some quarters that the consent judgment that authorized immediate past administration to extend the period of stay of allottees in the farms is said to be fake?
Unfortunately for them, Justice Ebri Eno, now presiding on in that court is the one that gave the consent judgment. And the consent judgment is used in various other cases. So it is not fake. I will say with every sense of responsibility that it will be the height of irresponsibility for government to enter into agreement and go to court and enter into consent judgment and then turned round and said the judgment is fake.
