By Charles Igbo
The Rivers State House of Assembly has stripped Daar Communications of the sprawling plots of land it occupies. 868 plots of land in all, it houses the African Independent Television, AIT, all its operations, as well as a Radio Station, Ray Power. It is the Headquarters of Daar Communications in the South-south.
The plots of land are located along the NTA road in Obio Akpor Local Government of the State.
Daar Communications is owned by Businessman/Entrepreneur/Politician, Dr Raymond Dokpesi.
In reversing the plots of land to Government, the House said it acted on the report of a Committee it set up to look into the petitions written by four Communities which insisted that their land was taken over from them.
The Communities which wrote the petition are: Ozuoba, Rumuosi, Rumuekini and Rumookwashi, all in the Obio Akpor LGA.
It is not known what brought about this ugly situation which is likely to pitch Dokpesi against the Governor, Nyesom Wike, but the Chairman of the Committee who is also the Chief Whip of the Assembly informed that the land has been given back to the Rivers State Government.
The Speaker of the House of Assembly, the Rt. Hon. Ikuinyi Awaji-Ibani, has asked Daar Communications to open a fresh negotiation with the Rivers State Government.
Not a few members of the Assembly accused Daar Communications of illegal and wrongful acquisition of the sprawling land
For the records, Daar Communications has been occupying the area for years. And, has had no problems with the Communites which now wrote the petition against its occupation of the vast land.
But not a few people point at politics – the politics of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Both Governor Wike and Dokpesi are not only from the South-south region, but they are of the PDP.
In the Presidential Primary during which former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, defeated Wike, Dokpesi was on the side of Atiku. He was Atiku’s Chief Campaigner, before the Primary, in the South-east and South-south.
Wike has been implacable since his loss of both the Presidential and Vice Presidential tickets. He swore to deal, ruthlessly, with those he calls his political enemies in the PDP.
