The Rivers State Police Command has denied allegations that the Commissioner of Police (CP), Olugbenga Adepoju, grabbed or facilitated the grabbing of land belonging to residents of Victory Estate, Rumuosi Community, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state.
The command, in a statement issued by its Public Relations Officer, ASP Agabe Blessing-Kaborlo, on Monday, described the allegation contained in a social media video as false and misleading.
According to the statement, the matter dates back to 6 March 2025, when the Commissioner received an application from O. S. Obior, on behalf of a company, requesting police protection for a court bailiff to execute a judgment in a suit involving Colonel Ogwumerum Eke and another against Chief Friday Ibeabuchi Anya and another.
It said the application was referred to the Department of Operations and subsequently to the Police Legal Section for verification, adding that the Customary Court, Choba, confirmed on 21 March 2025 that the judgment was valid and that there was no pending appeal or stay of execution.
The command said that, based on the legal advice received, police personnel were deployed on 7 and 8 April 2025 solely to provide security for the court bailiff, stressing that the officers were expressly directed not to participate physically in the execution.
However, during the execution, residents of Victory Estate, Rumuosi, objected, arguing that while they did not dispute the validity of the judgment, it concerned land in Rumuagholu Community and did not cover their property in Victory Estate.
The statement said the Commissioner immediately halted the execution and directed the Police Legal Section to investigate the conflicting claims.
It added that relevant parties were invited to present their positions, while the disputed location was visited and photographs of damaged properties were obtained.
As part of the investigation, the command said it obtained the Certified True Copy of the judgment and the disputed survey/site plan from the Customary Court, Choba, and forwarded the documents to the Surveyor-General of Rivers State for charting and geo-location.
The Surveyor-General subsequently confirmed that the area covered by the survey/site plan was within Rumuagholu Community and did not cover Victory Estate, Rumuosi Community, the statement said.
The command, therefore, maintained that Adepoju neither grabbed, acquired nor took possession of any land belonging to Victory Estate, Rumuosi, stressing that his involvement was limited to granting police protection to a court bailiff after the judgment had been duly verified.
It further warned police officers in the state against engaging in land-related matters without proper authorisation and legal backing, noting that land disputes were civil matters that should be resolved through the courts.
The command urged members of the public to report any police officer found engaging in unauthorised land-related activities to the nearest police station or the Complaint Response Unit.
