Land-grabbing seems to have intensified in Rivers State as political crisis gets worse and deepens. Observers say just as political violence and ballot box carrying fuel cultism and drugs wars, so do they fuel land-grabbing.
This, they say, is because the hoodlums that carry out the vices are also carry out jobs at elections. By this, it is explained, the ‘bad boys’ get strongly connected to the people they helped into power through election rigging and electoral violence. Now, when they grab land and trouble comes, they allegedly place calls to top political godfathers, and help comes immediately.
Now, the scenario seems to play out at Rumosi in the outskirts of Port Harcourt on the new road to the Port Harcourt International Airport.
Now, in that quiet community, the sound of bulldozers has replaced birdsong. What was once a peaceful expanse of dreams and investments has turned into a battlefield of sorrow, anger, and pleas for justice.
The crisis has spilled into the courts where on Wednesday, April 9, 2025 the court mentioned a case involving a suspected big who goes by the title of ‘Colonel’, a man residents say has led violent land-grabbing expeditions that have left hundreds of families devastated.
It was gathered that the defendant, who faces charges related to the illegal demolition and appropriation of land, was granted bail in the sum of N500 million, with two sureties; a recognized traditional ruler and a level-16 civil servant owning a property of equal value in Port Harcourt.
Speaking with news men, victims narrate how their lands have been forcefully taken away from them.
A Real Estate Consultant representing 46 affected landowners, (name withheld) insisted that they get justice for what the ‘Colonel’ has done, his voice trembling while narrating his ordeal.
“If you can look behind me you will see that a lot of people, landlords, are here today to fight for justice. I represent about 46 persons I sold for. They demolished all their fence and whatever they have of the site. What we are saying is that let police and the court give us justice.
“This guy needs to pay for all he had damaged at the site. If you go there you will never believe yourself, you must shed tears. Even as I’m talking to you, if you look at my eyes you can see some tears in my eyes because of what this man has done to some people.
“I have just fenced seven plots for a brother. Now, I have not called nor told him that the land is grounded”.
The consultant insisted that the judgment the suspected land grabber relies on is for a different community called Rumuhaolu not Rumuosi where the contested lands lie.
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“A Google map will tell you we are not even close”.
The situation with a mother and landowner, Chika Sunny, seems worse. She said she purchased her parcel of land over a decade ago from a respected member of Rumuosi community. Now, the land she hoped would secure her children’s future has been taken, and she has nowhere to turn.
“That’s the only thing I have for my children. He came with a fake judgment and took my land. I’m helpless. He claims powerful people are backing him. Is that what justice looks like in Rivers State now? Please, Rivers State government, the sole administrator, we are begging you. This is all I have, help us”.
A widow, Scholar Anunam, said she inherited her two plots of land from her late husband.
“It was all we had. Now, this Colonel came with caterpillars and destroyed everything. I am a widow, I have no husband. People lent me money for these parcels of land. What do we do now”.
Some residents say the land grabber has a history of land disputes and has been declared wanted in the past for similar cases.
“He’s a known thief. Everyone knows him, he has been to prison multiple times for this. How is he still walking free? How is he still doing this with police protection,” asked Mike Lubewidobie, a landlord at Victory Estate.
Lubewidobie alleged that the notorious man uses multiple names and titles such and has been used as a ‘consultant’ by others looking to forcibly take land.
“If the police want us to take the law into our hands, we will. But we are peaceful people. We want justice,” the aggrieved landowners stated.
Ernest Ihunda, Chairman of Ikenkworo community in Rumuosi, gave damning details of how the land grabbing issue started.
According to him, the Rivers State Government acquired land from his family as far back as 2005 for official use. Since then, he said, various legal battles over boundaries have ensued, but never with the ‘Colonel’.
“We never received any court summons from him. He used a judgment concerning a completely different area, SARS Road, to enter our land at Obiri-Ikwerre Airport Road. He destroyed fences, stole building materials, and looted hospital equipment. People are now fleeing. There’s no safety.”
He cited multiple court cases still pending, including suit numbers PSC/5541/2009 and CCC/33/2017, none of which gave the man legal right to the lands in question, he lamented.
“There is a cartel behind this,” Ihunda added.
The court proceedings are only just beginning, but for the people of Rumuosi, the scars are already deep.
Tensions flared afresh in the Rumuosi, Ohia-Egbelu axis of Airport Road, Port Harcourt, when a man declared wanted by the police long ago for alleged land-grabbing bounced back to begin demolishing houses and fences.
Few persons who could immediately cough out hundreds of thousands of naira on the spot were able to save their property from demolition.
This was said to have provoked anxiety which almost led to rioting.
The victims called up their highest contacts knowing that the man had some of the highest contacts around the country especially with topmost politicians in Rivers State.
Shooting always accompanies his arrival and activities, according to a resident of Rumuosi, Ohia-Egbelu area along Airport Road.
The man is said to specialize in invading entire area with armed men sometimes with uniformed men. He allegedly does not care about the documents a landowner may brandish. He allegedly uses force to shoot till he captures the area and sells to new buyers who begin building right away. The land at Egbelu is said to be contentious, according to some of the landowners who besieged the court to set eyes on the suspected landgrabber.
This was why the police command under the outgone police boss allegedly declared the man wanted. The man allegedly escaped and remained in hiding.
Now that rule of law seems to be in a lull, he is said to have re-emerged with bulldozers and armed men to begin demolishing peoples fences and houses. Some said they saved their property with huge sums. In one of his invasions, an operator is said to have died during shootout and his corpse remained at the place for over four days. He often engages in gun duel.
On April 8, 2025, the man who allegedly goes in many names such as ‘Mr. Colonel’ invaded again but was grabbed by superior force. He was allegedly overpowered on the orders of the highest police authority in Nigeria.
According to reports, the man was taken into custody after multiple complaints by original property owners accusing him of repeatedly destroying perimeter fences and other structures in the area.
His actions, witnesses said, were part of a coordinated attempt to resell the lands to unsuspecting members of the public, despite clear evidence of prior ownership.
The alleged criminal activity is said to have left a trail of financial losses and heightened tension in the affected community, with many residents expressing frustration over the slow pace of legal intervention in the past.
By morning of April 9, 2025, the landowners began mild protests and marched to the magistrate court zone to press it on the police authorities to ensure justice to be done this time around.
At the center of the dispute is approximately 3,000 plots of land, which the original owners insist were illegally encroached upon and resold without their consent.
In a show of solidarity, the aggrieved property owners embarked on peaceful procession ahead of the court sitting. They also address the press outside the court as arraignment delayed.
Organizers of the march said their aim was to demand justice and raise awareness about the growing threat of land grabbing in Port Harcourt’s expanding suburbs.
Community leaders and legal practitioners have also condemned the recurring trend of land racketeering in the zone, calling on security agencies and the judiciary to ensure a decisive end to what many have described as an organized criminal enterprise.
Many of the landowners including women wailed outside the court, calling the authorities to come to their aid from landgrabbers.
