Anambra reviews 180 land-dispute criminal cases, to drop those found to be civil
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Anambra State's Ministry of Justice is reviewing about 180 criminal cases arising from land disputes, with the Attorney-General saying files that are essentially civil will be discontinued while genuine criminal cases will be prosecuted.
The Anambra State Government has begun reviewing about 180 criminal cases arising from land disputes, Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Tobechukwu Nweke, SAN, said in a statement on Saturday, September 19, 2026, following complaints over the prosecution of land-related disputes in the state.
Nweke said the exercise followed an earlier public notice from his office inviting persons who believed that criminal proceedings instituted against them over land disputes were in substance civil matters to submit complaints and case files for review, adding that those whose files are under review will soon be notified of the outcome.
"Those lingering criminal cases emanating from land disputes which are found to be civil will be discontinued so parties can proceed to civil courts," he said, stressing that the review should not be interpreted as a blanket termination of prosecutions connected with land matters and that cases found to be criminal will be returned for prosecution.
The Attorney-General said the exercise was intended to prevent citizens from being subjected to criminal proceedings where the underlying dispute properly belongs before a civil court, and that the government remained committed to ending the undue criminalisation of civil land disputes in Anambra.
The review comes amid a long-running dispute involving Umuenu and Enugwu Quarters in Umuawulu, Awka South Local Government Area. Residents of Umuenu recently petitioned the Attorney-General over what they described as attempts by alleged land grabbers to dispossess them of ancestral land, homes and farms, and their chairman, Bernneth Mbolu, called on Nweke to remain neutral in the matter. The allegation that people involved in the dispute were working with the Attorney-General has not been established.
The Attorney-General's statement did not determine the merits of the competing claims in the Umuawulu dispute, where residents say the disagreement dates back to 1928. It set out the Ministry of Justice's broader approach to the roughly 180 land-related criminal files now before it: matters determined to be civil will be discontinued as criminal cases, while files disclosing actual criminal conduct will proceed for prosecution.