The Assistant Pastor at Bethesda Bible Church, Onitsha, Anambra State, Stephen Okonkwo, has cried out to former Enugu State Governor, Sen. Chimaroke Nnamani, to allow him to repossess the land which he said he used his widow’s mite to procure at Agbani, Enugu State, stating that he had commenced development of the property when it was forcefully taken away from him.

Throwing more light into his plea over the land, he said the decision to take the land from him caused nightmare.

The Pastor disclosed that the money he used to procure the land was given to them by the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) when they were laid off as staff based on retrenchment.

“I invested the money in the said property as my retirement means of revenue generation and suddenly the gate of the property was under lock and key without my consent.

“On enquiry, I met the overseer of Chimaroke’s properties in Agbani, Mr. Monday Ngene and he told me that I met the wrong person, who deceived me and sold the property to me,” stating that, ” the land I bought belongs to Chimaroke, that I did not make proper enquiry prior to the procurement of the property and subsequent structures I put in it.

“I fenced the land, installed the iron gate and started building up to lintel level. All of a sudden, while work was going on, one day in the morning, the gate was locked without prior notice.

“I plead to Chimaroke to come to my rescue by allowing me to repossess the property, as it is not even 1/10th of the good things he does to people as a man who is bent on serving God and men. Your Excellency, because of the everlasting dividends of democracy which you provided to the people using “Ebeano Politics,” your name will remain indelible.

“God will definitely replenish you with something better than this property if I repossess it and I agreed that proper consultation was not made by me which resulted in my regret to have invested my hard earned money in such a property.

“When I went to explain to Chimaroke about my predicament in his Enugu residence and for him in the spirit of his generosity to allow me to repossess the property, he refused to see me and I cried to high heaven for him to forgive my mistake because as humans we are bond to err,” he cried.

When newsmen contacted Chimaroke’s caretaker, Ngene, on the said land, he reiterated that Pastor Okonkwo made a very big mistake for not asking questions on the genuineness of the land prior to procurement.

His words, “In Igbo land before you buy a land you have to ask questions. This is a land Chimaroke bought with others around it, from one person . The very guy Chimaroke bought the land from went and sold the same land to elder brother to Chimaroke, Onyemauche Nnamani. As a result Chimaroke and Onyemauche started having issues on the land. While they were having issues, the guy went and sold same land to the pastor, thinking maybe Chimaroke may have forgotten he owns such land.

“The whole story is that when the bubble burst, it was late because the man who sold the land to pastor has died including about three others involved in the land saga. This means the land has fought for itself. So the pastor has no living witness to help him claim ownership. The C of O is with Chimaroke.

“Chimaroke bought that land to be meant for VIPs and when I hear that the guy who sold the land to Chimaroke has fallen sick, I called him and asked him why he sold same land he sold to Chimaroke also to five more people that included Onyemuche Nnamani, elder brother to Chimaroke.

“I told him that he wants two brothers to kill themselves because of land tussle. However, when Pastor Okonkwo approached me for solution I told him there is nothing I could do and only gave him the phone number of Chimaroke so that they could talk peace.

“The pastor has been calling him but could not get him until the day Chimaroke was in his residence and I told the pastor to go to his house, that he was around. He went and could not see him as Chimaroke dismissed him from the gate, saying that he has no land transaction deal with him,” he stated.