By Nsan Ndoma-Neji, Calabar
High Court of Cross River State sitting in Effraya, Etung Local Government Area of the state has given an interim injunction barring the government of Cross River State from invalidating the contract which permitted farmers from occupying 1,415 hectares of cocoa farms allocated to them by the immediate past administration.
The court also asked the state government not to chase out the cocoa allottees from the farms it gave to them during the era of the immediate past administration because the money paid to the coffers of the state government has not expired as stated by the agreement papers.
The presiding judge, Justice Amajama Eneji, handed down the injunction restraining Otu’s administration, and its cohorts from intimidating and harassing the cocoa allottees from accessing the cocoa estates.
In suit NO HE/16/2024 between Mr. Charles Mgbe and other allottees of the said 1,415 hectares of cocoa plots, and the government of Cross River State, the court ordered that the allottees be allowed in their cocoa plots.
The beneficiaries had through their counsel, Ntufam Mba Ukweni Esq,. SAN, approached the court, seeking redress after the Governor Bassey Otu-led state government-owned Cocoa Allocation Committee, led by its chairman Mr. Ebori Nku, declared their occupancy as illegal even though the allottees met all the requirements.
The court declared, “Upon this motion, exparte brought before this honourable court in its competent jurisdiction, and upon hearing, Ntufam Ukweni, SAN, praying the court for orders.
“After careful perusal of the motion paper, exhibits, and written address, it is hereby ordered that the motion be granted as prayed.
“Accordingly an order of interim injunction is hereby granted, restraining defendants/respondents, their agents, servants, cohort assigns, and collaborators and their privies in whatever guise from harassing and threatening, intimidating, evicting or attempting to evict the claimants.”
The court, however, adjourned the matter to April 29, 2024 for the hearing of the motion on notice.
In a brief interview with journalists shortly after the injunction was passed, counsel for the claimants, Ukweni, insisted that justice must to prevail.
The allottees’ counsel averred that government will be served with a notice to appear in court, and if it fails, to appear in court, it should be prepared to face the consequence.
Ukweni said, “Those cocoa farms were duly allocated to them, paid for and government has made use of the money.
“Government have not refunded their money or relocated them to another place, and they said because it is a new government. There is no such thing known to our law or government policies.
“Government is a continuum. You cannot collect money from people, and you enter into a contract with them and you say because a new government has come, the contract is invalidated.
“Its not done that way, so the order granted by the court restraints the government from evicting them from the estate, pending when they will come and make their own representation.
“If they failed to appear before the court we will have our claims. We proceed with the matter, court does not wait for anybody. All the court wants to know is there have been duly served and processes brought to their attention.
“The court is not there to wait for them. The court is to be satisfied that the processes meant for service on them had been served on them.
“The agreement was prepared by the Attorneys-General. It is not just one ministry that was involved in the transaction. The Ministry of Agriculture, Crop and Irrigation and the state internal revenue service were all involved.”
Recall that there have been issues regarding allocation and ownership of cocoa farms in Etung Local Government Area after the inauguration of a new Cocoa Allocation Committee by the Governor Prince Bassey Out’s administration.
