Why I left Nigeria ByDele Igbinedion, Solicitordeleigb@yahoo.co.ukIn
Nigeria, it is a curse if your land is rich in oil or is fertile for
agricultural use. The government will forcibly dispossess you and hand
the land over with title deeds to the foreign company that offers it the
fattest envelope. Two laws in Nigeria governing the compulsory
acquisition of land and compensation empower these practices. First,
under the Petroleum Act 1969, the entire ownership and control of all
oil and gas on any land in Nigeria or under its territorial waters and
continental shelf is vested in the state. Second, the Land Use Act 1978
permits a State Governor, if he is of the opinion that land is required
for a "public purpose", to acquire it compulsorily, and makes
it a criminal offence to obstruct such acquisition. Although these two
Acts provide for payment of compensation, it is usually for "unexhausted
improvements" made on the land, not for the land
itself. The expression refers to the value of farm crops, trees and
house, calculated according to a government rate fixed in 1969 or 1978
(depending on which Act is being applied), less depreciation from use.
In practice, however, compensation is rarely paid. Both
laws are evil, but General Olusegun Obasanjo decreed the more evil of
the two on the eve of his hand over of government to a civilian regime
in 1978, and for good measure, the General ensured that the Act could
only be amended by the agreement of two-thirds of all the Local
Councils, State Houses of Parliament and the two Chambers of the
National Assembly. ABUSE
OF THE LAWS Foreign
companies understand these laws well and the inherently militarised
system that accompanies land acquisition in the country. Consequently,
they use and abuse the system by bribing government officials to
implement the laws, albeit illegally or inappropriately. Human
rights groups have established that foreign companies have direct links
to some of the worst human rights violations in Nigeria. For example, in
May 1994, an internal Nigerian military memo stated that: "Shell
[oil company] operations are still impossible unless ruthless military
operations are undertaken for smooth economic activities to
commence." This
document suggested that 400 soldiers should begin "wasting
operations against Ogoni leaders who are especially vocal
individuals." http://archive.greenpeace.org/comms/ken/opay001.html
Twelve
days later, Ken Saro-Wiwa was arrested; he and eight other activists
were executed on 10th November 1995. Could the Nigerian army have done
this if someone didn't pay the bill? The
consequence of the above was that before and after Saro-Wiwa's death,
countless Ogonis and other Nigerians fled the country into exile,
leaving their rich land. They are still living in Europe and other
western countries. I
practice law in the UK as a Solicitor from a City law firm. It is a
beautiful vocation and I enjoy vocation tremendously. But some years
ago, I used to have another life as a lawyer in Nigeria. I had a
thriving law practice in Benin City in the midwestern part of the
Country. I was also a politician and a member of the ruling People’s
Democratic Party under whose platform General Olusegun Obasanjo had been
elected as President of the Nigeria. In 2000, the State Governor
appointed me as chairman of the Board of Directors of the State
Government owned Radio and Television Company called the Edo
Broadcasting Service in Benin City. I also doubled as the legal adviser
and consultant of the Edo State House of Assembly, Secretary to the
State Law Review Committee and solicitor to many other organisations. As
a hobby, I also hosted two weekly television programmes on the
Independent Television Channel and then State owned Edo Broadcasting
Service. Prior
to these events and appointments, a village of peasant farmers called
the Obagie-Nokenkporo Community had instructed my law firm in 1999 to
sue a company called Presco Industries Plc, a Belgian agro-industrial
subsidiary of Siat NV, a European company registered in Brussels,
Belgium. My brief was that Presco had been occupying a small area of
land in the farmers' community. Without prior notice, it suddenly
embarked on a massive land-fencing project covering about 15,000
hectares. People’s homes, land that has been in families through
generations suddenly went “awol”, ancestral land, etc were
lost to the company. I was also made to understand that no compensation
was paid to them and upon being challenged; the company claimed that the
government had given it a right of occupancy over the entire land. Dissatisfied,
the villagers went peacefully to the company premises in Benin City to
protest, but armed policemen guarding the premises set upon them. They
were beaten, whipped and shot at. Driven in Presco vans, Nigerian
policemen went to the village, raping women and looting. A particular
lady was gang-raped and let go. The next day, the same policemen went to
get her again from her house for a repeat and when the husband
challenged them, he was shot at point blank range with a pistol. I later
wrote to the police with enough proof to identify the policemen and
requested that they should be produced, but they were surreptitiously
transferred away. Other
villagers were arrested indiscriminately, charged with armed robbery
before the Magistrate’s Courts and remanded in prison custody. I
represented many of them before the High Courts in bail applications,
where we fought against a judicial system heavily weighted in favour of
a corrupt police system. Many of the villagers who managed to escape
arrest then fled Nigeria in fear. Most now in Europe. During
my pre-trial research, I discovered that the government certificate that
gave Presco the right of occupancy over the Obagie land had been
irregularly issued against the advice of the State Commissioner for
lands who had advised the government not to grant the application at the
time it was done. His reason was simply that government could only
acquire land from its original owners for “public purpose”,
and by legal definition, “public purpose” excluded the profit
pursuits of a private company. This document convinced me that my
clients had an iron clad case. I
therefore wrote to Presco giving the company an ultimatum to quit the
land and pay adequate compensation to the villagers and owners of the
land. At the expiration of the notice period, I filed a multi-billon
Naira lawsuit in the High Court seeking to revoke the certificate of
occupancy and get a compensatory damages award. After
I filed the case in May 2000, instead of a direct response from the
company, the Deputy Governor of Edo State, Mr. Mike Ogiadonmhe,
immediately suspended me from my position as the Chairman of the Board
of the state radio and television company. The
sole reason given in the suspension letter was “for conduct
capable of causing confusion in Edo State”.
Then, I received an ominous visit in my office in Benin City
from one Samson Obaseki, a very dangerous man who headed a paramilitary
group at that time in Benin City. He accused me of working against
government interests and, despite my protests, adjudged me not to be a
supporter of the administration. On
5th June 2000, I received a letter in my office asking for a meeting
between me, Lucky Igbinedion the State Governor (no relation of mine),
and my clients on the Presco issue. On our arrival, however, we were
directed to see the Deputy Governor Mike Ogiadonmhe. While in the lobby
of the Deputy Governor’s office, we saw the General Manager of Presco
exit the office and leave the premises. When the Deputy Governor later
met us, he waved a document that he said had been prepared by the
Nigerian State Security Service which contained evidence that my clients
had been endangering state security. He threatened to deploy the might
of the Government against the villagers unless we withdrew the lawsuit
against Presco. I was understandably incensed and told him in no
uncertain words that perhaps h ought to seek the advice of his Attorney
General before speaking on legal issues. Despite
the threat, we proceeded with our lawsuit and appeared in Court in June
2000, although the matter was adjourned procedurally for an exchange of
pleadings. Surprisingly,
the government appointed someone else to replace me as chairman of the
Board of Radio and Television Company without bothering to remove me
first, and the government security men around my house withdrawn. Two
nights later, armed men stormed into my house. One held a gun to my head
while another grabbed my 3-year-old daughter, put a pistol to her head
and threatened to shoot her. My mother, who was visiting, begged for our
lives. Miraculously, they let us live. I tidied my legal and
professional affairs and left Nigeria on 22nd October 2000. I have not returned there since. |