HURIWA Commends Malami for Dropping Charges against Enugu Commissioner

A rights body and advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has applauded the dropping of charges against the Enugu State Commissioner for Lands and Urban Development, Chukwuemeka Nnam, by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami (SAN) relating to land allocations.

According to the group, withdrawing the charges from the Federal High Court was commendable given their appeal earlier in that direction more so as it was more of a political witch-hunt than quest for justice.

HURIWA had in a letter dated December 10, 2020, appealed to Malami to discontinue the case which investigation had revealed was a frame up and politically motivated. They recalled that sometime in September 2019, Chukwuemeka Nnam was appointed by the governor as the Commissioner for Lands and considering the overwhelming land-related crisis within the state, he was given a stern mandate by the governor to sanitise the Ministry of Lands.

“It was in discharge of the duties of his office as the Commissioner for Lands, Enugu State Ministry of Lands that he discovered to his dismay an alleged land-related dispute over a large expanse of land with contentious ownership status. We urge your good offices to please activate investigative mechanisms to verify this information. Again, the commissioner being in the know that the allocation of such a large expanse of land within Enugu State must be approved by the State Executive Council and having discovered allegedly that no such approval was obtained prior to the allocation of the said land allegedly and in appreciation of the lingering crisis between the Amechi Awkunanaw and Obeagu communities on one side and a company on the other side, vis-a-vis the deluge of petitions forwarded by the concerned communities to the office of the governor including various Newspaper publications over the said land which covers almost the entirely of the two Communities, attention of the State Governor was drawn to the details of the said land,” they explained.

It was in response to the appeal and explanation of the rights group that an investigation which exonerated the commissioner, culminating in the withdrawal of the case against him that the group is commending Malami for not allowing miscarriage of justice and punishment to the innocent commissioner.

They however noted that whatever was left of the validity or otherwise of the title would be decided by the courts which were already as what police did that led to the charge was to “visit the commissioner in his office and sought his statement in respect of a certain case of forgery in the registration of Aruga Layout which the Police Special Fraud Unit, Milverton Police is reportedly investigating. This is considered a perfect set up just to rope him into a phantom charge for his involvement which was the professional brief for the registration of the said layout following his briefing by the representatives of the village involved.”