Appeal Court Orders Alamieyeseigha’s Wife to Vacate Property in Bayelsa State

The Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt has ordered the vacation of a piece of land measuring 5336.919 square metres at the Ovom area of Bayelsa state. This order was directed at the late Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieseigha, and his wife, Margaret.The judgement was delivered by Justice Theresa Ngolika Orji-Abadua, in response to an appeal filed by Stodie Ventures Limited against Alamieyeseigha and his wife, Margaret.The Court of Appeal declared that the trial court, which had earlier handled the case, had erred in its judgement.The judge added that “It is thoroughly reprehensible that the first defendant who was the governor of Bayelsa State as of the time the said compulsory acquisition was made seemingly for an overriding public interest, later allocated the said land to himself and his wife, who was then First Lady of Bayelsa State.“No government or individual has any right to acquire land compulsorily and alienate or transfer it to another private individual or body for his or its private use.“I would rather say in passing that the purpose for which the government can compulsorily acquire lands are clearly defined in the Act and do not include acquisition for the purpose of making a grant to a third party.”It would be recalled that the firm had, through its lawyer, Doueyi Fiderikumo, taken Alamieyeseigha and his wife to court in a 2011 suit instituted before the state High Court challenging their occupation of the said land and praying the court to declare it (Stodie) the rightful owner of the land.The firm further asked the court to restrain the late former governor, his wife, their servants and agents from committing a further act of trespass on the parcel of land and demanded N100m damages for trespass.However, in 2012, the High Court dismissed the action on the grounds that Stodie failed to prove its case by credible evidence as required of it by law.