Calabar – The High Court sitting in Effraya, Etung Local Government Area of Cross River State has extended an order of injunction restraining the state government from evicting cocoa allottees from government owned cocoa estate allocated to them by the immediate past administration.
By the order of injunction by the court, those allocated cocoa plots by the previous administration would have to continue work in their farms till May 6, 2024, pending the period that a motion for interlocutory injunction will be moved.
The court presided over by Justice Amajama Enenji, in suit No.HE/16/2024 between Mr. Charles Mgbe, and other allottees of 1,415 hectares of cocoa plots, and the Cross River State government, the court ordered that the allottees be allowed to continue to work in their cocoa farms up to May 6, 2024.
The adjournment of the case was considered by Effraya court following agreement by lawyers of the claimant, Mba Ukweni, SAN, and I.I Eval, Esq., who held brief for W. S. Ogar, counsel to the defendant.
In a brief interview with the media shortly after adjournment of the matter, claimants’ counsel, Mba Ukweni who gave a brief on the matter, stressed that his clients within the arm of the law, were in order to continue with work on their farms genuinely allocated to them pending court orders.
“My learned friend W. S. Ogar, to represent them, Ogar is not available because he is bereaved, he sent this lawyer, I. I Eval, to hold his brief, the same thing he told me was what he told Eval, that we should consent to adjournment for him.
“And I said it will be on condition that the order already made be extended to enable us move the application on notice for injunction, and he agreed.
“So that was exactly what happened, and the court has extended the order of injunction restraining the government from interfering with their right to the use and possession of the farm to May 6, that is the day that the motion for interlocutory injunction will also be moved,” he said.
Ukweni averred that the allottees would therefore have to continue to work on their plots of farm and awaits the decision of the court, but stressed that the court has granted an order of injunction restraining state government from chasing the allottees out from there plots of cocoa allocated to them by immediate past administration.
“So they have no reason not to continue their work, its rather the government and the people they have appointed that should be worried, because if they do anything contrary to court order it could be visited with sanctions,” Ukweni warned.