Founder of Peace Mass Transit Limited (PMT), Dr. Sam Maduka Onyishi has explained that he was driven away from large expanse of land he bought in Ojota, Lagos to use a park by some officials of the state government and members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in the state who decided that they would not allow somebody to come all the way from Enugu to own such a large place.
Onyishi who spoke to our correspondent in Enugu, clarified that the said land was never in dispute between any two families. According to him, the families who own the land shared it into two and he bought from one family.
“Yes, some government officials decided that how can they allow someone to come all the way from Enugu and buy this big place. They said they would not allow it,” Onyishi said.
“The commissioner for transport that time connived with the National Union of Road Transport Workers in the state. They broke my fence and the national union came into my park and drove away my workers.”
Asked whether the land is in dispute between two families as being suggested in some quarters, Onyishi said: “No. That’s not the case. The two families came together and agreed to share the place. I bought from one family and the national union became tenants to the other family. But because my own was more strategic, they used the commissioner to take over my park.”
He noted, however, that the case is in court and expressed confidence that he will get justice at the end of the day. He also revealed that the state government did the right thing by registering the land in his name.
“However, I know I will defeat them in court. And to tell you how government works, even though the commissioner did that, the state still registered the land in my name because it’s my land. The land is registered in my company name by the Lagos State Government.
“I knew the commissioner was doing that on his own. He was not doing it for the state government. We were sure, and that was why, when we were going to court, we didn’t sue the government. It was the national union that brought the government in to say that the government gave them the place. But how can government give you the place and still register it in our name?” Onyishi wondered.
