— As Powerful Interests Recruit Insiders To Sow Division Over Supreme Court-Legitimated Land In Nkaraha
A dangerous plot to destabilize the Akpelu family, rightful owners of the vast expanse of land in Nkaraha, Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Area, has been uncovered, sparking renewed concerns over attempts by powerful interests to override a binding Supreme Court judgment in a bid to seize the land through subterfuge and internal sabotage.
Credible sources and community leaders have confirmed that some high-ranking political actors and government officials—widely believed to be linked to Imo State Commissioner for Lands’ ongoing bid to illegally acquire the land —have recruited a few extended family members of the Akpelu lineage to manufacture false internal disputes over the ownership of the land, despite the Supreme Court’s definitive ruling in favor of the late Matthew Akpelu.
The fresh move, described as “desperate and divisive” by legal analysts, seeks to create the false impression that the 18,000-plot land, which has been legally affirmed to belong to Matthew Akpelu alone, is subject to competing claims from unnamed relatives. This new strategy is being seen as an effort to discredit the Supreme Court ruling and break the Akpelu family’s unified front by planting seeds of confusion.
Reacting to this development, Barrister Nnamdi Okoro, a legal practitioner familiar with the case, stated unequivocally that the Supreme Court judgment (Suit No. SC/250/2005) made no mention of any extended ownership or communal claim beyond Matthew Akpelu, whose name alone appeared throughout the case history from the High Court to the Court of Appeal and ultimately the Supreme Court.
“The judgment is crystal clear. The plaintiff was Matthew Akpelu. He was the one who fought this battle through all legal stages. No other individual or group was mentioned as a co-owner or claimant. Any post-judgment claim by any family member is legally baseless and could be deemed contemptuous,” Okoro said.
Sources within the Nkaraha community say the new internal saboteurs—allegedly lured with promises of money and political favor—have been prompted to begin public declarations falsely stating that the land in question was never exclusively owned by Matthew Akpelu. This, despite the decades-long legal battle he alone fought and won.
Comrade Gerald Ukah, President of the Ohaji-Egbema Youth Movement (OEYM), which has closely monitored the unfolding events, decried what he called a “divide-and-conquer” plot orchestrated by external land-grabbers, warning that the community will resist any attempt to manipulate history, law, and justice.
“This is a coordinated attempt to fracture the Akpelu family from within. They tried lies, failed in court, and now they are trying to invent internal conflict. But we know the truth. The land belongs to Matthew Akpelu and his direct heirs, as declared by the Supreme Court. Anything else is political theater funded by people who want to grab what does not belong to them,” Ukah stated.
Human rights watchdog, Citizens for Legal Integrity, has also weighed in, urging Nigerians to see through the “criminal plot to derail justice by sowing division where none existed.”
“This is how land-grab syndicates operate—when they cannot challenge you legally, they infiltrate you from within. But the law is not silent. The Supreme Court judgment stands as the last word, and no amount of family drama or political interference can override it,” said the group’s executive director, Dr. Rita Akande.
Meanwhile, tension remains high around the Nkaraha community, as the Akpelu family and developers working with them continue to face harassment, threats, and security risks. Armed with the Supreme Court’s definitive ruling, they are determined not to be intimidated into surrendering the land that has been legally proven to be theirs.
The family’s spokesperson, Chinedu Akpelu, in a brief statement, reaffirmed their commitment to peaceful development of the land in line with lawful ownership and promised that they will not be deterred by intimidation, blackmail, or treachery.
“This land was not gifted to us. It was fought for in court, for years. My father gave his life to that cause. We are standing on the strength of the law. No one will take this land from us—not by force, not by lies, not by manipulation,” he said.
The Akpelu family has now petitioned both the Imo State Government and the Office of the Inspector General of Police to investigate and halt these latest attempts to destabilize their family and subvert a binding judicial decision.
As this dramatic saga unfolds, civil society organizations, media observers, and legal bodies across Nigeria are calling for vigilance, adherence to the rule of law, and urgent action to ensure that court judgments are not turned into meaningless documents by those with power and political access.
