Abuja estate residents cry for help over invasion by alleged land grabber

Buldozer pulling down structures in the estate

Residents and property owners at Committee on Resettlement and Development (CRD) Layout, in Lugbe, Abuja, have appealed to President Bola Tinubu and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to rescue them from alleged harassment by a certain property developer.
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The residents said although the matter had been taken to court, this had not dissuaded the developer from harassing them.

They said they decided to seek the intervention of the President and the FCT Minister following the recent stabbing of a resident by thugs allegedly hired by the developer, and the pulling down of some houses in an attempt to annex part of the estate.

Speaking on the latest invasion, the residents alleged that thugs, acting on the directive of the developer, forcibly deployed bulldozers, pulled down houses, and looted people’s properties.

Chairman of the community, Abdulwasiu Mustapha, who spoke on behalf of other residents, accused the developer of taking the law into his hands. He said the developer assumed the role of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) and Chief Security Officer of the FCT by deploying persons to demolish buildings and terrorise the community.

He said the CRD Layout in Lugbe was allocated to the residents, alongside title documents, by the Minister of the FCT, 15 years ago. He said they have since lived in peace without any molestation until the developer began land grabbing attempts, in connivance with some government officials, despite two previous court rulings in favour of the CRD.
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He said: “Our community has existed in peace for more than 15 years, until we started experiencing the activities of the land grabber. We have made several efforts to resolve the matter with relevant authorities to no avail. I don’t want to talk about the litigation aspect, but rather speak about the intimidation, harassment and lawlessness of the developer. He brought in thugs and hoodlums to terrorise the residents and demolish our homes. We have reported this at the Lugbe Police Station, even to the Commissioner of Police.”

A CRD landlord, Raphael Igu, said the community took the matter to the court in 2011 to avoid a breach of public peace. He said the matter eventually ended in their favour as the court affirmed that their title documents were genuine and they were the rightful occupants of the layout.

He said: “In 2007, he started making claims that the Federal Government had allocated this place to him. Since then, we have not had any rest of mind. He will come here with thugs and criminals to harass us. At one point, our people had to take him to court in 2011.

All the arguments he canvassed that the Federal Government gave him the place and that we are illegal occupants, were all trashed by the court. He went to the appeal court and the appellate court dismissed his case. But despite the court’s judgment, he is still harassing us and pulling down our houses.”
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