Lawyer petitions Ugwuanyi over alleged demolished of Enugu paint factory

Mr Chukwuma-machukwu Ume, SAN, has urged Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State to investigate an allegation levelled against a businesswoman, Mrs Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, over the demolition of a paint factory in the state.

Ume, in a petition addressed to Governor Ugwuanyi through his law firm, said the demolition of the factory, Legacy Paints Ltd, was allegedly orchestrated by Kennedy-Ohanenye.

The petition, which was made available to newsmen on Thursday in Abuja, also copied noble personalities, including former governors and clergymen, in the state.

The lawyer said that the N1.3 billion ultramodern paint factory located at Plot M4, Cattle Lairage Site, Emene, Enugu State, was lawfully owned by his client.

“The Enugu state government through the state’s Ministry of Lands in 2013, validly granted Statutory Certificate of Occupancy (No: CAL/07566, dated 25th November, 2013 and registered as NO: 5 at page Vol. 126, Land Registry, Enugu) for 99 years to Dezern Nigeria Ltd in respect of a commercial piece of land known and situated at Plot M4, Cattle Lairage Site, Emene, Enugu State.

“It is also in the record of your state government that this company duly applied and got the necessary factory buildings approval.

“As a follow-up, they, in line with your state government policy of encouraging indigenous industrialisation of the state, immediately (with borrowed funds) constructed and established an ultra-modern paint manufacturing factory at a cost of N1 billion.

“The factory with a teaming workforce of over 70 staff has steadily remained in active production and has been paying huge sums of money to your state confers in form of Personal Income Tax of employees,” the petition read in part.

He said that before the factory was pulled down, the paints and other allied chemical produced by the company had added tremendous value to commercial activities in the state, country and the West African sub-region.

Ume, who said despite the pendency of the matter over the disputed land in court, Kennedy-Ohanenye, who was also a chieftain of a political party, allegedly masterminded its demolition on Dec. 22, 2022.

He also queried the sudden withdrawal of the appeal marked: CA/E/224/2021 filed by the state government on the matter.

The senior lawyer, who urged Ugwuanyi to instruct the state’s Ministry of Justice to re- file the withdrawn appeal for proper prosecution, demanded for the cancellation of any allocation made or attempt to have been made to Kennedy-Ohanenye.