The Ominiha/Shosanya families of Molatori and Owode villages, Ibeshe in Ikorodu, a Lagos suburb, have refuted claims by a textile firm, NICHEMTEX, that the defunct United Textile Nigeria Limited (UNTL) purchased 138.70 acres of land about 50 years ago.
The families, through the community leader, Baale Ayodele Ominiha and their lawyer, Dr. Charles Nwadiani, accused the company of forging receipts and documents, which they used to take over their lands.
The textile giant and the families are having a running battle since January over the ownership of the land, with each accusing the other of land grabbing.
The families said they have petitioned the police to investigate alleged documents forgery, insisting that the duplicate copy of purchase receipt NICHEMTEX brought when they were invited for a meeting with the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone Two showed evidence of manipulations.
Baale Ominiha told our correspondent that the land in dispute was never sold to UNTL, saying the company expressed interest, which was communicated to the family lawyer then, but it never paid for the land.
He said if the firm was sure of purchasing the land, it should provide the original receipt of sale, just as it has the one issued when it bought the Nichemtex factory land.
Dr. Nwadiani in an earlier interview said: “All we are saying is that UNTL should show the receipt the family issued when it bought the land. Who sold it? It is not true that the cases in court were consolidated because one of the lawsuits was filed by the Efunba family who the court already ruled have no land in Owode/Ibeshe Ikorodu.
“We have written a petition to the police on forgery. The company was asked to bring the original copy of the purchase receipt. Initially they said it was with the Bank of Industry (BOI), when the police told them to put it in writing so that they can investigate, the company recanted and said it forgot the original in China.
“It has been three months since January. How long does it take for a document to be sent to Nigeria from China? Besides, there was a Gazetted revocation order of the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) from the government after the government acquired 15 hectares of the said land. When it was time for compensation, the company was asked to go and bring original document, but they could not.
“Some of the family members were convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the land on the right side (138.70 acres) was never sold to UNTL. The company leased two acre on the shoreline after purportedly buying 148 acres on the left side. The leased two acres was for the sole purpose of bringing in their equipment through the waterways.
“Having evaluated the facts of the case, the family decided and agreed that a criminal case be initiated against the company, particularly on forgery of documents with which they claimed they have purportedly acquired the said land.
“We wrote Zone Two on alleged forgery and the case is being investigated. The company produced a photocopy of a document and they were asked to bring the original. There should be original of every photocopy document, isn’t it? So, let them produce the original.
“On face analysis of the copies they produced, we have reasons to question the document. It has been sent for forensic examination and the result will be out soon. They were alterations and impositions, which raised our suspicion.
“The company has refused to honour police invitation and is launching a media campaign against the office of the AIG to cover their crime.”
However, the Managing Director of the company, Daniyan Folorunsho, dismissed the allegations from the families, saying at no time did they refuse to honour police investigation.
Folorunsho said it was untrue the company was asked to produce any document by the government because UNTL has to date, not demanded any compensation from the government.
He also faulted the families’ claim that the company forged documents for the land, wondering why they were resorting to self-help rather than await the verdict of the court.
At the land registry, our correspondent confirmed that the land was registered on June 12, 1990 in the name of UNTL and that 15 hectares was in June 2013, revoked by the government for overriding public good.
Our correspondent gathered that the company relied on a court order for out-of-court settlement to process its C of O and did not present any receipt of purchase to the land registry, a discovery the families said corroborated their allegations against the firm.
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