admin
A legal battle has erupted over the alleged forceful takeover of the former Imo State Polytechnic campus land in Orlu, as land owners and indigenous communities accuse the Imo State Government and the Orlu Catholic Diocese of unlawfully seizing ancestral land.
The plaintiffs, representing four villages in Orlu Autonomous Community, have filed a lawsuit (HOR/48/2025) seeking to reclaim the property, alleging decades of dispossession and a recent clandestine transfer of the land to the Catholic Church.
In the suit, Comrade Chijioke Odogwu, Venatius Nnuyi, and Hon. Elijah P.N. Uzomba (acting on behalf of Umuire, Eluama, Ndiowere, and Ndikabia communities) contend that the land, known as *Uhu Agu*, was never permanently ceded to the government or the Church. According to court documents filed by their legal counsel, N.O. Chukwuezi and Company of Radar Chambers, Owerri, the dispute traces back to the 1940s when Irish missionaries were granted portions of the land to establish Bishop Shanahan College (BSC) and later a teacher-training institute under a temporary arrangement.
The plaintiffs assert that while they donated part of ‘Uhu Agu’ for BSC, a separate section was loaned to the missionaries in 1946 for a temporary training facility—Bishop Shanahan Teacher-Training College (BSTC)—on the condition that yearly tribute payments be made through Orlu’s traditional rulers.
This arrangement, they claim, was honored until the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970) disrupted operations. Post-war, the land was occupied by the Nigerian Army before being seized by the East Central State government, which later transferred it to Imo State.
Over decades, the site evolved from a technical school (TESAC/TESAI) to a polytechnic campus under successive administrations. However, when the state government relocated Imo Polytechnic to Omuma in 2023, the plaintiffs expected the land to revert to the land owners.
Instead, they allege that the Imo State Government, under Governor Hope Uzodinma’s administration, “secretly handed over” the property to the Orlu Catholic Diocese on January 23, 2025, without consultation or compensation.
“The Defendants lack the legal authority to allocate our ancestral land to a private religious entity after abandoning its public use,” the plaintiffs stated, accusing government officials and “compromised traditional leaders” of prioritizing personal gain over communal rights. A January 28, 2025, protest letter from the Umuire Progressive Union—copied to the Orlu Catholic Bishop and media outlets—denounced the transfer as unlawful, but received no response.
Crucially, the plaintiffs clarify that the disputed site is distinct from the permanent BSC grounds, emphasizing that the vacated polytechnic campus (fully fenced and gated) was only temporarily leased. They argue that post-war government expansions unlawfully annexed adjoining family lands, and demand restitution now that public use has ceased.
The Imo State Government and Orlu Catholic Diocese have yet to publicly respond to the allegations.
