A state High court sitting in Owerri has ordered the final seizure of Royal Palm Springs Hotel and other assets which belong to Senator Rochas Okorocha and his relatives.
The order, according to the presiding judge, Justice Fred Njemanze, was as a result of the the failure of Senator Okorocha’s counsel to give tangible reasons why the properties should not be forfeited to the state government.
The Judge also added that the lawsuit filed by Senator Okorocha’s legal team was not properly filed, stating that it was a surplusage (a legal term, meaning that a statement is absolutely irrelevant to an issue).
As for persons who might have made purchase on such properties, Justice Njamanze said they are at liberty to approach the court to prove their titles.
However, the properties as at today have been returned to the Imo state Government.
Justice Fred Njamanze had February 26 given an interim order of forfeiture on the properties urging Senator Rochas Okorocha to approach the court to show case as to why a final and absolute order of forfeiture should not be given over the properties following an application brought by Mr Louis Alozie, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, on behalf of the state government.
This prompted Okorocha’s counsel to file a preliminary injunction to stop the final forfeiture citing forceful eviction and that the suit by the Imo state Government was not properly Instituted.
Some of the properties forfeited include:
1. Eastern Palm University, Ogboko
2. Royal Spring Palm Hotels and Apartments
3. IBC staff quarters said to have been illegally acquired for the purpose of Rochas Foundation College
4. Owerri magistrate quarters, Orlu road/cooperative office/Girls Guide allegedly converted to private use housing market square and Kilimanjaro eatery
5. Public building situated at plot B/2 Otamiri South Extension Layout given to the ministry of women affairs for establishing a skills acquisition centre for women, allegedly acquired for the benefit of Nneoma Nkechi Okorocha’s all-in Mall along Aba road.
6. Plot P5, Naze residential layout, initially part of primary school management board but now annexed to All-In Mall along Aba Road, belonging to Mrs Nkechi Okorocha
7. And all the properties contained from pages 226 to 272 of the government white paper on the recommendation of the judicial commission of inquiry into land administration in Imo state from June 2006 to May 2019”.
