Governor Siminalayi Fubara  has declared total war on land thieves in Rivers State, saying that the evil that they represent will be stamped out by his administration.

The Governor who has been speaking on how his administration is fighting to crush activities of land grabbers in the State said that government would  revoke Certificates of Occupancy that such ruthless developers have received.

Exposing his administration’s hard stance against land grabbers and the existence of several legal suits filed in court as a result of their illegal actions, Fubara vowed to crush the land grabbing threat which has left many Rivers people wondering about the future of their families and communities.

The Governor first brought the land grabbing threat to limelight penultimate Sunday when he told members of the Guild of Editors that land paid for by the Rotimi Amaechi government for the development of the Greater Port Harcourt City project were systematically being tsmpered with by land thieves.

He disclosed there were more than 50 suits emanating from land grabbers which have been instituted in court in defence of the nefarious encroachment on state land and the plan to stall his government.

Oginigba Women Accuse Wike Of Land Grabbing:

The other face of the former governor and what is increasingly being seen in most Rivers circles as his tendency for forcefully appropriating the property of other people, including land, is gradually being revealed.

Although government is already planning to probe excesses of the Wike administration, it has started taking stock of its assets that have been allegedly converted into private use.

Oginigba Women who matched down to the Government House after protesting through some major routes in the State capital are alleging Wike is a land grabber.

Addressing some of the women who stormed Government House, to protest a land grab allegedly involving the former Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, Fubara said the government would not spare those acquiring land by dubious means.

The number one citizen empathized with the women and people of Oginigba and assured them that government would deal squarely with the land grabbing threat.

The Oginigba people are insisting on the return of land obtained from them allegedly under false pretences by a top player in the immediate past administration and used for the construction of a shopping mall owned by Hypercity.

They are pointing accusing fingers at the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory under whose watch the demolition of a public facility built on the said parcel of land took place.

The Governor who spoke through the State’s Head of Service, George Nwaeke said, “Rivers State is blessed with a very good leadership. It is blessed with a leadership that thinks of the people, a government that is produced by the people.

“This is a government that has taken an oath to protect the people, their lives and their property. It is disheartening to hear the pathetic story that was told.

“Whereas they should have been thinking of how to enlarge your land to see how they can get you because I know the sacrifices you have made with those properties that people, companies here and there.

“So, I want to say that I hope you have the message, so that you will hand it over and I can give it to the governor. But before it comes, what I will assure you is that the governor is the owner and custodian of all lands in Rivers State.

“Everything has a procedure, the procedure for the acquisition of land and all associated rights. If they are not followed, then that process would be repossessed.”

While talking to media executives, Governor Fubara admitted that Land grabbers who have filed more than 50 legal cases against the Rivers State government have become formidable.

The Governor listed a number of areas around the State capital deliberate encroachment on government land has  been reported.

They include lands meant for the revival as well as the completion of the Port Harcourt International Automobile Spare Parts Trading and Commercial Centre, and the 20,000-unit housing project in the Great Port Harcourt City area.

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Whereas the previous contractors who had earlier abandoned the project as a result of the to lack of support is being pressured to sue the state government in order to derail the project, Fubara hinted that at least 52 Court cases have been instituted by land thieves who are part of a grand design to sabotage the efforts of the Rivers State Government.

He said intense pressure has been mounted on the initial contractor appointed to deliver the spare parts market project by enemies of the State to drag the government to court.

The State’s Chief Executive noted that this has happened despite the fact that his administration has paid off the initial contractors engaged by the previous administration.

But he explained that because of the reputation and integrity of the contractors, they declined to pursue a path of dishonour and sabotage.

Fubara also spoke of the challenges faced by the government in the construction of the 20,000 housing units in Mgbodo-Aluu axis of the Greater Port Harcourt City Development area in the Ikwerre Local Government, revealing that investors handling the project have faced litigations from land grabbers sponsored by opposition elements intent on scuttling the government.

He further disclosed that lands duly acquired and paid for by the Chibuike Amaechi-led administration in the area have been deliberately encroached on by sponsored land grabbers claiming to own the said lands.

We have heard that appeals are being made behind the scene by some powerful forces who are urging the State Governor not to expose the underbelly of his predecessor.

Wike has become relatively quiet since the Fubara administration issued threats that it will not change its mind on moves to probe him.

The Telegraph learnt through impeccable sources at the weekend that the government has overwhelming evidence on some of the things which may have transpired in the last eight years.

Fubara had ordered the Attorney General of the State. Dagogo Israel Iboroma while swearing him in to set the stage for the probe.