Environment
CSO drags Edo Govt to ECOWAS court
Written By: Udo Inobeme
10 Jul 2024 10:09 AM
Okpamakhin Community Initiative(OCI), a civil society organization led by Comrade Tony Erah, has dragged Governor Godwin Obaseki before the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) court in Abuja for allegedly engaging in humanitarian and environmental disastrous activities in Edo State.
In a suit marked ECW/CCJ/APP/22/22, Comrade Tony Erah, the plaintiff; is urging the court to try the governor of Edo State for forcefully dispossessing several hundreds if communities of their aboriginal rain forest reserves as well as destroying their farmlands and crops which is their main source of livelihoods.
Co-plaintiff in the suit are Chief Reuben Aizenabor, co-ordinator of Coalition Against Land Grabbing And Deforestation (CALD) a body fronting for the victims from numerous local communities accross over 10 Local Government Areas seeking judicial relief from the subregional court.
When the state government first indicated interest in early 2022 to take over the forest reserves, a massive peaceful protests against the plan took place led and organized by Comrades Tony Erah and Reuben Aizenabor to draw the government's and global attention to the pending inhumane and environmental crises the actions of the state government will cause in this period of climate change.
However; the government went on with its actions. In May 2022, the government took possession of the forest reserves and bulldozed it.
It was at this stage the government was dragged to ECOWAS court.
Court papers on September 16, 2022 were then duely served on the feferal government standing in for the state government and records show that the restraining notification court papers were forwarded to the state government from the office of Mrs Maimuna Lami Shiru acting director of civil litigation and public law department in the federal ministry of justice.
Nevertheless, the government went ahead to again acquire over 47,009 hectares of "the affected communities last vestiges of rain forest reserves containing bio diverse wild life species, their farmlands and crops.
The land was given to single-crop private investors for oil palm plantation.
Comrade Tony Erah in a press statement criticized this further provocative action of government and has now appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and relevant authorities to thoroughly investigate Obaseki and all his business fronts as well as the former Central Bank of Nigeria(CBB) governor Mr. Godwin Emefiele.
Tony Erah alleged that over N69 billion were sunk into the oil palm project under the CBN's anchors borrowers scheme in Edo State which was not well utilised because the target local oil palm growers were sidelined.
On a final note, Comrade Tony Erah disclosed the alleged fraud has been reported to EFCC while hearing has begun in the ECOWAS court case.
In a suit marked ECW/CCJ/APP/22/22, Comrade Tony Erah, the plaintiff; is urging the court to try the governor of Edo State for forcefully dispossessing several hundreds if communities of their aboriginal rain forest reserves as well as destroying their farmlands and crops which is their main source of livelihoods.
Co-plaintiff in the suit are Chief Reuben Aizenabor, co-ordinator of Coalition Against Land Grabbing And Deforestation (CALD) a body fronting for the victims from numerous local communities accross over 10 Local Government Areas seeking judicial relief from the subregional court.
When the state government first indicated interest in early 2022 to take over the forest reserves, a massive peaceful protests against the plan took place led and organized by Comrades Tony Erah and Reuben Aizenabor to draw the government's and global attention to the pending inhumane and environmental crises the actions of the state government will cause in this period of climate change.
However; the government went on with its actions. In May 2022, the government took possession of the forest reserves and bulldozed it.
It was at this stage the government was dragged to ECOWAS court.
Court papers on September 16, 2022 were then duely served on the feferal government standing in for the state government and records show that the restraining notification court papers were forwarded to the state government from the office of Mrs Maimuna Lami Shiru acting director of civil litigation and public law department in the federal ministry of justice.
Nevertheless, the government went ahead to again acquire over 47,009 hectares of "the affected communities last vestiges of rain forest reserves containing bio diverse wild life species, their farmlands and crops.
The land was given to single-crop private investors for oil palm plantation.
Comrade Tony Erah in a press statement criticized this further provocative action of government and has now appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and relevant authorities to thoroughly investigate Obaseki and all his business fronts as well as the former Central Bank of Nigeria(CBB) governor Mr. Godwin Emefiele.
Tony Erah alleged that over N69 billion were sunk into the oil palm project under the CBN's anchors borrowers scheme in Edo State which was not well utilised because the target local oil palm growers were sidelined.
On a final note, Comrade Tony Erah disclosed the alleged fraud has been reported to EFCC while hearing has begun in the ECOWAS court case.
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