A High Court in Akwa Ibom State has restrained the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Lands and Water Resources, the Attorney General of Akwa Ibom State, and the Akwa Ibom State Government from forcefully acquiring Ekpri Nsukara Offot Community’s school land until a subsisting suit filed by the village is decided.
The order of interim junction was granted on Thursday, December 12, 2024, by His Lordship, Hon. Justice Joy I. Unwana of the High Court of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria, in the Uyo Judicial Division, in suit no. HU/306/2024, upon a motion Ex-Parte brought before the Court by Ekpri Nsukara Offot Village in Uyo Local Government Area, through their Counsel, Samuel Ikpo, Esq.
The Court, upon its consideration of the application, the affidavit in support, the exhibits attached thereto, and the written address on the Motion Ex-Parte by the Village against the government, ordered that “an Order of Interim Injunction be and is at this moment issued against the Defendants/Respondents, restraining them, their agents, servants, workmen, and whosoever acting on their behalf from further entering the land measuring 4.321 hectares and delineated in Survey Plan No. JEJ/AK/75576.”
The order also barred the Defendants/Respondents, their agents, servants, workmen, and whosoever from carrying out any work in the Land pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed on the 9th day of August 2024.
The court adjourned the case to the 18th day of December 2024 for a motion on notice.
It read, “That order of interim injunction be and is hereby issued against the Defendants/Respondents, restraining them, their agents, servants, workmen, and whosoever acting on their behalf from further entering into the Claimants/Applicants’ parcel of land lying, situate, and being at Ekpri Nsukara Road, Ekpri Nsukara Offot, Uyo, measuring an area of 4.321 hectares more particularly delineated in SURVEY PLAN NO. JEJ/AK/75576 and doing any manner of work thereon pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed on the 9th day of August 2024.
Village Head of Ekpri Nsukara Offot, Uyo
“That this case is adjourned to the 18th day of December 2024 for motion on notice.”
The community had approached the court on August 9, 2024, for arbitration following a series of forceful means by the persons claiming to be officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Lands and Water Resources to acquire the community’s land where its only educational institution, the Ekpri Nsukara Offot International Schools (ENISCO), was built.
The recent case was the invasion of the Ekpri Nsukara Offot International Schools’ compound during school hours at about 11:45 am on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, and carried demolition of some parts of the perimeter fencing and some adjoining buildings, a situation that almost degenerated to a violent clash with members of the community if not for the quick intervention of the village head, Eteidung Emem Denis Asikpo, and the principal of ENISCO, Elder Domingo Bassey Etim, who doubles as the secretary to the village council, as they calmed frayed nerves and ensured the officials were not attacked.
However, it was learnt that since the community approached the court for arbitration on the matter, the defendants in the case—the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Lands and Water Resources, the Attorney General of Akwa Ibom State, and the Akwa Ibom State Government—have not made appearances or filed statements of defence.
The village head of Ekpri Nsukara Offot, Eteidung Emem Denis Asikpo, lamented that the community has not received any official notification from the government for the acquisition of their land; neither have they received compensation nor formally discussed the matter, thereby creating fears that the officials involved may merely be promoting their selfish interests.
Eteidung Asikpo further appealed to the state governor, Pastor Umo Eno, to step into the matter to save the community’s school from extinction.
