“I FELT SADDENED” — AMANYANABO DOKUBO-ASARI RESPONDS TO ALLEGATIONS OVER ROYAL FOUCHE AND THE LAND DISPUTE BETWEEN UDEKAMA AND OBUAMA

Amanyanabo Dokubo-Asari has described as sad, vexatious and provocative allegations by the Udekama council of Chiefs accusing his private Military contractor company, Royal Fouche services limited of being an occupation army and land grabbers.

Speaking with reporters following allegations made against him and Royal Fouche Security Services, the Amanyanabo of the Source, Da Amakiri Tubo, Alhaji Mujahid Abubakr Dokubo-Asari, said he was saddened by the allegations, describing them as a distortion of a longstanding land dispute between neighbouring communities.

Asked for his reaction to allegations describing Royal Fouche as an “army of occupation,” and to claims linking him personally to alleged attacks and territorial expansion, Amanyanabo Dokubo-Asari said:

“I felt saddened when I heard these allegations. I came back home after a long time away from Rivers State to read about this vexatious allegations against me.”

This is a dispute that existed long before I was born. I was not a party to the court cases from which these allegations appear to have arisen, and I have never claimed ownership of the land in question.”

He said that to understand the present controversy, it was necessary to go back to history.

THE SCUTTLED OBUAMA YEAR 2020 – 2025 DEVELOPMENT PLAN

According to Da Amakiri Tubo, Obuama had a longstanding practice of preparing periodic development plans, including five-year development plans, under which portions of community land were allocated to deserving members who applied for land for development.

In 2020, he said, portions of land were accordingly allocated for development along the corridor of the major road linking Tema, Okpo, Obuama Degema and Abonema.

The road itself was constructed in 1973 during the administration of Commander Diete Spiff, and, according to him compensation was paid to the affected communities.

He stressed that the communities along the corridor traditionally had land on both sides of the road.

According to him, it was as the people of Obuama wanted to start implementing its development plans that the people of Usokun challenged the development, claiming that the land belonged to them and taking the matter to court.

“What is important,” he said, “is that there was no injunction stopping Obuama from developing the land. Yet Obuama chose to hold back because they wanted peace and wanted the matter to be resolved through the courts rather than through confrontation.”

“THIS WAS NOT A DISPUTE CREATED BY ME”

Amanyanabo Dokubo-Asari said the court proceedings and legal records demonstrate that the controversy was much older than the current allegations.
All the court cases instituted by the Udekama people have been adjudication in favour of the Obuama people. Yet the Udekama people keep bringing up new cases instead of appealing the judgements and wasting everybody’s time”.

He referred to DHC/76/CS/2020, HRH Chief Charles Sunday-Ugu VII & 3 Ors. v. Chief Kalada Samuel Harry & Anor., where the High Court considered whether the claimants’ case was caught by estoppel/res judicata and whether they had established their title to the disputed land.

According to the judgment summary available to him, the court found the claimants caught by the earlier litigation, including the 1938 Native Court judgment in favour of Obuama, which had not been set aside.

The court also found that the claimants failed to establish their title through the traditional evidence presented.

“My question is simple,” he said. “If this dispute was already before the courts and I was not a party to it, how have I now become the person responsible for the dispute?”

“WHERE IS THE OCCUPATION?”

He also strongly rejected the description of Royal Fouche Security Services as an “army of occupation.”

“Occupation of what?” he asked.

“Royal Fouche has provided security on land and waterways across communities in four Local Government Areas for approximately four years. Yet those making this allegation have not identified one portion of land that Royal Fouche has taken over.

“Where is the community that has been displaced? Where is the land that has been seized?

He said the organisation’s security activities should not be confused with ownership or occupation of land.

He also questioned why, if Royal Fouche was truly an “occupation army,” other communities where it has operated merritoriously around the country have not raised similar allegations.

According to him, Royal Fouche has provided security for over four years without payment from the State Government or the four Local Government Areas concerned along the Emuohia / Kalabari road and continue to do so. The efforts of Royal Fouche services Ltd put paid to the activities of Kidnapping and armed robbery along that corridor. You have to speak to people to confirm the positive impact of my men in the discharge of their duties in this area. Talk to people from various communities. Talk to transporters, they will tell you their ugly experiences before now and the present level of safety and peace of mind they enjoy on that route all thanks to Amama/ Apapa Soldiers “.

THE COURTS HAVE DETERMINED WHO OWNS THE LAND

Da Amakiri Tubo maintained that the issue of land ownership has severally been determined by the courts and allegations of criminal conduct should be investigated by the appropriate authorities.

“I have nothing to fear from lawful investigation. But serious allegations such as genocide, terrorism or occupation should not be used casually.

“If there is evidence of wrongdoing, let the evidence be produced and let the appropriate authorities investigate it.

“But do not take a longstanding dispute between neighbouring communities, attach my name to it when I was never a party to the litigation, and then create a completely different narrative around it.”

THE HISTORICAL ACCOUNT

Da Amakiri Tubo also gave a historical account of how the Udekama people came to occupy the area they now claim as their ancestral land.

According to him, his forebear, King Amakiri I, whom he described as the founder of the modern Kalabari Kingdom, brought the people from the Andoni area and settled them in their present abode.

“They were brought from Engenni ( in the present East Ahoada local Government Area of Rivers State)
and settled in their present abode by King Amakiri 1 among the Kalabari people” he added.

According to the history passed down to him, they served as buffers, living on the fringes by the sea front. During periods of warfare, their job was to provide intelligence on impending attacks.

He further described the Udekama people as ingrates who owe their education and development significantly to the benevolence of the Kalabari people and the Baptist Convention.

“My concern is that people who were historically accommodated and supported should not now turn around and challenge the people who accommodated them and claim ownership of their land,” he said.

He said the historical account should be examined alongside the documentary and judicial records rather than being allowed to become a source of ethnic confrontation.

Amanyanabo Dokubo-Asari maintains that his overriding concern remains peace among neighbouring communities with the Kalabari kingdom.

“The people of Obuama have chosen peace and the courts over confrontation. That peaceful disposition should not be mistaken for weakness.

“We must separate the land dispute from the security question and allow evidence, the law and the courts to determine the issues.”

He concluded,

“I welcome a judicial panel of enquiry by the State Government to investigate the accusation of land grabbing”.