Nkem Owoh battles widow over land

Widow seeks justice, claiming that the actor is using his influence to oppress her

Nollywood actor, Nkem Owoh a.k.a Osuofia has threatened the life and destroyed the property of widow, Glory Ayogu in a land dispute.

Ayogu petitioned the case to the Commissioner of Police Enugu State Police Command.

According to the petition, Ayogu alleged that the MTN brand ambassador was trying to force her to part ways with her land adding that the actor sent some thugs to pull down the structure she had already put on the land.

Ayogu said: "I woke up in the morning of Monday October 1, 2012 only to hear that a house I was building at Plot 11 Emeheluaku Layout, Trans-Ekulu, Enugu, has been destroyed by Nkem Owoh and his agents.

"My encounter with Nkem Owoh began shortly after my husband, Ben Ayogu died in December 2004, just months after we purchased this plot of land.

"Being a teacher, I had saved with my husband to buy this particular plot of land and we were already making plans to build on it when the cold hands of death stole him from me, leaving me to look after our very little children.

"After mourning my husband, I discovered that there were some missing documents from our apartment, the most important of which was the documents for this plot of land. I raised the alarm then and when nobody came forth with information on its whereabouts, I quickly ran to the police at Abakpa junction to make a report.

"I also went to the Ministry of Lands, where, armed with the police extract, I was able to obtain the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the property. But not long after, Nkem Owoh appeared, claiming ownership of the land. I tried to inform him that I had neither sold the land nor authorized its sale to anybody but he insisted the plot belonged to him.

"The matter continued to drag between us until it got to a point when he began to ask that we settle. Having not sold the land and having no intention to sell the land, I told him there was nothing to settle. He persuaded me with all manner of offers, including that of paying extra money to motivate me to relinquish the land."

She went further: "When Nkem Owoh felt he was not succeeding in persuading me to part with this land, he began to use threats and on several occasions said he was going to forceful take possession of the land and vowed that since I claimed God will fight for me, that I had better bring down my Creator when the chips are down.

"Each time he comes to meet me, he usually came with a group of dangerous looking thugs but I was never to be cowed into giving him the only property I am leaving for my children.

"Because my salary was barely enough to pay our rent, pay for the school fees of the children and provide for their upkeep, I felt it was proper to construct a house no matter how small on the land so that we can move in and thus begin to save what we were using to pay house rents.

"Thus I began construction four years ago (in 2008). I was slowly building this potential home of ours because my income was not large enough for speedy construction. I had to even take a loan to enable us finish and park in this year.

"I had roofed the house and was about hanging the doors and windows, having also installed the frames when Nkem Owoh and his agents struck, bringing the entire structure, my four years of labour to ordinary rubble.

"When I saw the damage done to this property of mine, I ran to the Trans-Ekulu Police Station where I was rebuffed by an officer who, even without investigating the matter, concluded that Nkem Owoh is not a trouble maker and could never have done such evil. This officer refused my entreaties and sent me away, saying that the Police does not treat land matters."

She appealed to the Commissioner of Police to look into the case and grant her justice.

All efforts to reach Mr. Owoh have so far proved futile.

........NKECHI OPURUM/DAILY TIMES NIGERIA