Prison, church battle over ownership of land in Warri: Authorities of the Federal Prisons, Okere in Warri, are currently on a running battle with the leadership of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) over the ownership of a parcel of land on the left hand side of the prison along Okere road. Daily Independent learnt trouble started last Saturday when workers of the Church went to pull down part of their own fence to erect a new gate and create a car park on an area where illegal structures were demolished by the state government’s task force on illegal structures. Prison security officials allegedly stormed the site with guns and drove the church workers away, shooting sporadically into the air to scare them off. When Daily Independent visited the Church, Chairman of the C.A.C, Warri, Elder Agboola David, said the “the land belongs to us since the colonial days in1956 when it was acquired by founders of the Church, Pa. Babalola and 2 other trustees”. Prison authorities, however, claimed that all land on the left of the prison wall to the small stream by the Okere road bridge belongs to them with document to support same, saying even the Church building is incorporated in their building plan. “The prison authorities are only being lenient with the Church because it is a place of worship”. We are inviting the leaders to come for dialogue. But if they choose to go to the court, then they would have exposed themselves”, a prison security official revealed. However, a senior citizen of Okere and the head of the Oki family of Okere, Pa. Churchill Oki, who are the owners of that area of Warri, said anybody on that part of the prison is a trespassers, noting that the land belongs to the prison authority having been acquired since 1910 by the colonial government. Daily Independent learnt that the Church authorities are considering going to court to seek redress since they do not wish to confront the prison security outfit with bare hands. Prime chronicle
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 06:19:41 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015