From Ene Asuquo, Calabar

Wife of Clan head of Nkonib Quo clan, Ikot Ansa community, Calabar municipality local government area of Cross River State, Arit Maurice Omin – Iso, has cried out over the abduction of her husband.

Omin narrated that her husband was abducted from their residence on December 23, 2024 by armed men suspected to be security operatives at about 7pm to an unknown destination.

The monarch’s wife made the appeal while making comments on the disappearance of hubby during a chat with our correspondent in Calabar.

Although no security agent had admitted being in possession of the monarch whose whereabouts are yet to be known since December 23, 2024.

Findings by our correspondent however revealed that the Monarch’s travail began when he and other seven claimants dragged the state government in suit No: HC/314/2022 on behalf of (Ikot Ansa) Qua Clan to court challenging what they described as  illegal acquisition of 369.579 hectares of their communal land by the state government for private purpose of Summit Hills.

Subsequently, six out of eight claimants decided to withdraw from the suit on grounds that they were not ready to fight against the State government because they were not consulted before the case was filed in court.

Determined to follow the matter to the latter, Ntufam Maurice Omin Iso and Ntufam Donatus Etim continued with the matter in Court and eventually settled the case with the government, executing terms of settlement.

Upon  realizing that Etim and Iso were making some  progress with the matter, Ntufam Paul Asim Ita with members of his faction returned to  same court with another application  for  joinder as defendants against Ntufam Maurice Omin Iso and Ntufam Donatus Etim alleging  that  Maurice and  Donatus did not seek  community’s consent  before going to court.

After hearing of the application, the court dismissed and refused the joinder on grounds that, the parties seeking to be joined having withdrawn from the suit cannot in turn bring an application for joinder as defendants against the claimants that is Maurice and Donatus in the same suit

On March 7, 2022, at High court 2, the presiding judge, Hon Justice B.T Ebuta, after describing the act of the six claimants as an attempt to frustrate Justice of the Case, ruled against the parties seeking to be joined as defendants.

The court thereafter ordered the release of 23 hectares of the land to Maurice and  Donatus  in compliance with the Judgment of the Court, The then  Attorney General of Cross River State late Tanko AShang (SAN), of blessed memory, thereafter wrote in a letter in  March 31, asking  to  Surveyor General of the State to carve out  23 hectares  from the contentious plot  of land  and hand it  over to Maurice  and Donatus  in line with the consent judgment of the High Court.

A letter dated March 11, 2022 from Summit Hills also directed the Surveyor General of the state to follow suit to the claimants.

Our correspondent gathered that in compliance and obedience with the consent judgment the Attorney General of the State on September 30, 2022 wrote to Ntufam Maurice and Ntufam Donatus  formally handing over the 23 hectares of the said land to the claimants.

When Paul Asim Ita and his faction who had earlier withdrawn from the case and also failed in all their efforts to frustrate the judgment, they again filed a case in the High Court in HC/147/2022 asking the court to set aside the consent judgment entered in HC/314/2021.

Hon Justice Elias Abuo dismissed the Case seeking to set aside the consent judgment.

Similarly, the state Commissioner for Lands in a publication dated April 10, 2024 and 16, published in the Nigerian  Chronicles page 15, handing over the same 23 hectares of that  parcel of land in question to Paul Assim Ita, purportedly revoking the layout Plan earlier approved and issued to the claimants in line with the consent judgment, thereby  handing over the land to Assim Ita’s  faction irrespective of  the consent Judgment.

However, while the  suit challenging validity and legality of the actions of the Cross River State government and Paul Assim Ita was still pending and judgment  reserved for February 4,2025,unfortunately, on  December 23,2024 at about 7:pm, Ntufam Maurice Omin was abducted in his residence.

However, lead counsel to the monarch Chief Obono Obla, who earlier declined comment on the issue, insisted that the Attorney General AG knows the whereabouts of his client.

Obla claimed that on January 4, 2025 during a phone conversation, the Attorney General, Edemdem Charles Ani, had admitted that the abducted monarch, chief Maurice Iso, whose where about is yet to be known by family was arrested by security operatives and kept in  custody of DSS because he was becoming a security risk.

He alleged that the Attorney General is angry with Maurice for installling his brother as Clan Head, grabbed lands belonging to the government, and carved out a community in Ikot Ansa for himself.

On the contrary the Attorney General (AG) and Commissioner for justice of the state, Ededem Ani, in a statement released on Thursday night last week alleged that the various media reports linking him  and his office to the incident were all  false and baseless denying any  involvement in Chief Maurice Omin Iso’s travail stressing that the media reports  were  attempt  calculated to tarnish his good image built over the years.

But Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the federal High Court Calabar, In suit No. FHC/CA/CS/3/2025, had earlier this month ordered the Department of State Security, DSS, and the Attorney General to produce Iso in court on January 15, 2025.