By BANNERNEWS Reporter, Calabar
The Village Head of Ikot Efanga Mkpa in Calabar Municipality, Cross River State, His Highness Chief Efange Nangefanga, has raised the alarm over alleged illegal allocation and encroachment on the community’s ancestral land.
Chief Efange said the community began efforts to reclaim the land in 2015 after discovering that part of it had allegedly been encroached upon by the Nigerian Army.
According to him, after the land was recovered, a man identified as Okoi Ottor Okoi was engaged to survey and parcel the property and create road networks, with about 16 plots reportedly agreed upon as payment for his services.
The traditional ruler, however, alleged that Okoi subsequently went beyond the agreed allocation and interfered with other plots belonging to the community.
Chief Efange further alleged that the former Commissioner for Lands, Francis Edet Ekpeyong, later became involved in the dispute and attempted to facilitate the sharing of the contested land.
He said he was invited to the Commissioner’s office, where he was informed that the land would be shared, but he rejected the proposal, insisting that the Commissioner lacked the authority to determine ownership of what he described as his family’s ancestral property.
The village head said the matter became more complicated when documents were allegedly produced purporting to show that he had consented to the sharing of the land.
Chief Efange denied authorising anyone to represent him in any agreement to share or dispose of the property, and questioned the capacity of some of the individuals whose names appeared as signatories to the documents.
He has therefore warned members of the public against buying, selling or otherwise dealing in any portion of the disputed land, pending the resolution of the controversy.
