Umuire Community in Orlu Local Government Area of Imo State, has cried out over what they alleged as the attempt by the Imo State Government under Governor Hope Uzodinma, to handover their land which is the old premises of the Imo State Polytechnic Orlu Campus, to the Catholic Diocese of Orlu, without their consent and compensation.
In a letter dated January 28, 2025, and addressed to the Imo State Government through the Attorney General of Imo State, Barr COC Akaolisa the community under the auspices of Umuire Progressive Union,UPU Orlu, noted that they had been informed that the Imo State Polytechnic Orlu was relocated to Omuma in Oru East LGA.
The Community recalled that they gave out the land which served as the premises of the Imo State Polytechnic Orlu Campus to the state government without any compensation paid to them ,then.
In the letter which was signed by the Chairman of Umuire Community Union, Dr Paul Duruokpo, and two others, the community went further to state that when the government of Imo State took the land without compensating then, the community had to let go since it was done in overriding public interest.
They however, wondered why the said premises will allegedly be handed over to the “Holy Trinity Catholic Cathedral Orlu, without their consent, or in a manner that could be interpreted as smacking of secrecy.
Umuire Community Orlu made it clear that neither did their ancestors sell the said premises to the “Irish Missionaries” as to warrant gifting the premises to the Catholic Church of Orlu, nor did the Imo State Government pay any compensation to them.
The community described as wrongful or unlawful for the “Catholic Church or Catholic Church of Orlu” to lay any claim to the said premises without reaching an agreement with the community.
Umuire Community Orlu also maintained that handing over the former premises of Imo State Polytechnic Orlu Campus to the Catholic Church in Orlu was equally unlawful as such does not qualify as overriding public interest.
Umuire community therefore prayed the Imo State Government to return their land, if the government was no longer using it for the purpose it was earlier given for public interest.