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Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has accused civil servants of conniving with land grabbers to work against the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), saying the matter will not be allowed to slide but tackled headlong.
At a press briefing in his Abuja office recently, he said some persons bought hectares of land and began reselling to Abuja residents with the connivance of staff of the legal and land secretariat. While reacting to the allegations of land grabbing made against him by the chairman of SNECOU Group Limited, Nicholas Ukachukwu, Wike said cases of land grabbing are on his desk and that these activities are thriving because of the actions of corrupt civil servants who aid property investors.
Ukachukwu had alleged that the FCT minister ordered the demolition of investment on 214 hectares of land in the Asokoro district in Abuja after supposedly threatening to deal with Igbo people. The Anambra-born businessman accused Wike of ordering the demolition without any court order despite pending valid two court orders from separate courts restraining him and the FCT administration from tampering with the property.
He accused Wike of trying to take his duly allocated lands to favour some Lebanese land developers. He claimed the FCT minister does not having an address outside the political arena and as such, lacked the capacity to intimidate him over his recently demolished Abuja property.
Ukachukwu, who spoke on television, questioned the motive of the minister to ‘ridicule’ his efforts in developing Abuja and said he was given a national honour in 2003 on account of his pioneering role in Abuja property development. He asked where was Wike when he was honoured in 2003 for his contributions to housing development.
“As far back as 2003, I had a national honour as a result of what I had been doing in the housing sector in Abuja. In 2005, my brother had a similar honour. How can you call Linus and Nichoas Ukachukwu land grabbers? We need a serious apology from Wike. Where was he in 2003 when a national honor was given to me as a result of developing Abuja? Where was he? Is it because of these fake opportunities that they have in the country that led them to come on television and start harassing the citizens? When you talk of integrity we never go into shady deals.
“This land was given in the nineties. Along the way, because of the size of the land, a former FCT minister came in and intimidated the first person (allotee) that they gave that land and did all manners of things to try to take that land from him. At the end of the day, they went to the EFCC, went to court and the court discharged the guy and said there is no forgery on the document. They went to court of Appeal, EFCC lost and they gave up and gave the Certificate of Clearance to the initial person that the land was allocated to.
“That was when we now came in and acquired some of the property and discovered that while the matter was still in the court, the former FCT minister went and gave part of the plot to Sunrise without even revoking our rights. So, you can see the impunity. We need to stop listening to some of these leaders because they are just a bunch of liars. He took part of the land and gave it to Sunrise, (Lebanese) without revoking our title,” he said.
According to Ukachukwu, the immediate past minister of the FCT, Mohammed Bello, convened a panel to resolve the issue and the panel found out that the original title with the Ukachukwu brothers are valid. He said the former administration, however, pleaded that they should concede the already developed land and go on to develop what was left. He said contrary to Wike’s claim, the land was resolved in his favour about seven months before the exit of the former administration.
“Along the way, these Lebanese went to Wike and called for a meeting. My brother went for the meeting and in that meeting, Wike started intimidation, he didn’t even want my brother to talk, but Ukachukwu cannot be intimidated. If he can intimidate, it is not me because I made my money through the grace of God and sweat. I never stole and I never worked for any government. In that meeting, he didn’t even want my brother to talk until my brother raised his voice and said you cannot bring me for a meeting and tell me that I cannot talk and that only my lawyer can talk,” Ukachukwu said.
But in his media chat, Wike refuted Ukachukwu’s allegations, saying these ‘investors’ are defrauding people and the government by buying land in large quantities and reselling to residents, after they might have told the government that the lands were for investments.
“They are conniving with the legal secretariat here. Do you know we can sack them? Sack the land administrator? Have you seen the court judgement? Go and read the court judgement and see whether the court says the land is their own?
“They went to tell the court to say tell FCTA to return our documents they are holding. I met these matters here. They were over 1000 cases on lands. As the court says ‘FCTA release their documents’ , does that show that you’re entitled to the land? There is no way they would go in there. It is our property!”
“Do you know after they filed a suit against us, they made a deal with the law secretariat. They brought an external lawyer, and the external lawyer will agree with them and the judgment will be served. I’ve never seen how corrupt human beings can be. The point I’m making is that all sentiments that I’m revoking people’s lands (is) by law. Nobody has said you revoked the land because I’m a Yoruba man. Nobody has said you revoke the land because I’m a Hausa man. What has this gotten to do with Igbo? What kind of a crazy, childish sentiment is that?” he said.
