The controversy arising from the ownership of the former premises of Imo State Polytechnic, Orlu campus has taken a different dimension, as the owners of the land have dragged the Imo State government and the Orlu Catholic diocese to court, seeking to repossess their land.
A community leader who does not want his name in print said those who connived and unilaterally agreed to cede the land in question to the church mischievously acted on their own, probably, for pecuniary benefits. According to him, ^instead of using our land for Father Christmas, Governor Uzodinma, should take the Orlu Catholic diocese to his community, Omuma, in Oru West LGA and give them as much land as he wants^
The Suit No: HOR/48/2025, is between Comrade Chijioke Odogwu, Venatius Nnuyi and Hon Elijah P.N. Uzomba as Plaintiffs (for themselves and on behalf of the people of Umuire, Eluama, Ndiowere and Ndikabia, all in Orlu autonomous community, in Orlu LGA on one hand and the Governor of Imo State, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Imo State and the incorporated Trustees of the Catholic Diocese of Orlu, as Defendants. The plaintiffs, in the statement of claim signed by their lawyer, N.O. Chukwuezi and Company of Radar Chambers, Owerri, stated that, “the Plaintiffs aver that sometime between 1945 and 1946 or thereabouts, some Irish missionaries arrived Orlu and were looking for a place to establish a secondary school.
The Plaintiffs welcomed the Irish missionaries and their desire to establish a school in their place and so jointly donated a part of their land known as and called Uhu Agu to them where they built Bishop Shanahan College (BSC), Orlu. The School was then managed for the Irish missionaries by the Marist Brothers.
The Plaintiffs aver that after some time, the same Irish missionaries approached the Plaintiffs once more to give them the remaining Uhu Agu land opposite Bishop Shanahan College for them to use as a temporary place for training teachers.
The Plaintiffs state that this time around, they refused to make an outright donation of the land to the missionaries but merely granted them the right to stay on the land pending when they (the missionaries) will conclude their assignment and leave the land for them (the Plaintiffs).
On this premise, the Plaintiffs showed the missionaries a little portion of their jointly owned Uhu Agu land opposite Bishop Shanahan College and they (the missionaries) built Bishop Shanahan Teacher-Training College (BSTC) thereon for the training of Grade II teachers. (However, the Plaintiffs gave the missionaries another portion of land behind BSTC for them to use as a Pastoral Centre.)
The Plaintiffs aver that one of the conditions for showing the Irish missionaries the BSTC land was that the missionaries would be paying rent (in form of tribute) to them on a yearly basis through their Traditional Rulers, the Igwe of Orlu, the first then being HRH Igwe Patrick Acholonu (now deceased).
The Irish missionaries paid the prescribed rent or tribute to the Plaintiffs religiously and faithfully through the Igwes until the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War in 1967 which disrupted the school’s academic programmes.
When the War ended in 1970, the College’s premises were taken over by the 24 Battalion of the Nigerian Army. The Army continued to occupy the land until 1973 when the then Government of East Central State took over all schools owned by the Government including BSTC.
The Plaintiffs state that the Government continued to run and manage Bishop Shanahan Teacher-training College, Orlu until it (the Government) phased out the Grade II Certificate programme. The then Government of Imo State then converted the site to a campus of Alvan Ikoku College of Education. In the process, the Government expanded the School and took over other adjoining parcels of land belonging to the Plaintiffs and built a block wall right round it.
In 1982 or thereabout, the then Government of Imo State returned the campus of Alvan Ikoku College of Education to Owerri and established Technical Skills Acquisition Centre (TESAC) thereon which was renamed Technical Skills Acquisition Institute (TESAI) under the regime of Governor Ikedi Ohakim.
The Plaintiffs state that during the regime of Governor Rochas Okorocha, he made the place a campus of Imo State Polytechnic which the present Government (represented in this suit by the 1st and 2nd Defendants) moved to Omuma in Oru East Local Government Area.
Following this move, the land became vacant for the original owners (the Plaintiffs herein) to take back but the Plaintiffs had to hesitate to see if the 1st and 2nd Defendants will continue to make use of the land for any other public purpose(s).
However, to the surprise of the Plaintiffs, the 1st and 2nd Defendants purported to secretly hand this land over to the 3rd Defendant on 23rd January, 2025 without their knowledge.
The Plaintiffs later learnt that the 1st and 2nd Defendants did this in conjunction with very few obviously compromised individuals especially from the traditional institution who preferred personal benefits to communal gain.
When the Plaintiffs became aware of this secret move by the 1st and 2nd Defendants, they wrote a letter dated 28th January, 2025 to the State Government through the 2nd Defendant with the title “Unlawful and Secret Allocation of the Premises Called Imo State Polytechnic, Orlu Campus to the Holy Trinity Catholic Cathedral, Orlu, Together with the Appurtenances, Without our Consent.” The said letter which was written with the headed paper of Umuire Progressive Union, Orlu is hereby pleaded. The letter which was signed by the Chairman, Dr. Paul Duruokpo, the Youth Leader, Mr. Chijioke Odogwu and the Secretary, Mr. Osita Asuzu was copied to the Catholic Bishop of Orlu and the Press. Notice is hereby given to the 2nd Defendant to produce the original letter during the hearing of this suit for the Plaintiffs’ use.
The Plaintiffs state for the sake of clarity that the land in dispute in this suit is the Uhu Agu land from where Imo State Polytechnic, Orlu Campus was relocated and not the one where Bishop Shanahan College is sited. The land is clear and definite as it is fenced round with a gate.
The Plaintiffs had waited patiently for the Irish missionaries to conclude their assignment on the land for them (Plaintiffs) to take back their land but this was unfortunately disrupted by war and the subsequent takeover of the land by the 1st and 2nd Defendants after the war.
The Plaintiffs aver that since the 1st and 2nd Defendants are no longer in need of the land in question, they lack the requisite powers to hand the same over to the 3rd Defendant- a private Christian religious organization.”
