Northern Region Editor Something despicable has just happened to over
2,000 poor Nigerians allocated land in Gwagwalada, a thriving suburb of Abuja.
The strategic piece of land, measuring over 200 hectares, was allocated to the
beneficiaries drawn from all parts of Nigeria in 1992 when the Federal Capital
Territory was more of a village than a township. Then, it was like buying
poverty to be given a piece of land outside Maitama and Asokoro, the two most
developed and preferred districts of Abuja. The mighty and powerful who control
the levers of government flock around the two areas while the poor seek solace
in Nyanya, Suleja and Gwagwalada and other slumps that have sprung up near the
FCT. However, the land allocated to these ordinary Nigerians was properly laid
out and advertised by the Federal Government under its Site and Services Scheme
through the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development (FMLUD).
That was in 1992 when Gwagwalada was nothing but a thick bush burnished by
searing sun, ravaged by insecurity and desecrated by land speculators.
But the
ever optimistic and patriotic Nigerians, who had unwavering faith in the
system, damned the negative factors and invested their money in the said area.
As a result, as soon as the FMLUD advertised for the sale of the land, the
allottees went forward, filled the papers and paid for the land. In one of the
allocations made with Ref No: FCT/SAS/GWAL/LD/73, the then Lands Allocation
Committee approved and released allocations to the over 2,000 Nigerians for the
building of houses. To underscore the importance attached to the project, the
Federal Government specifically designated the estate as a low density facility
and clearly marked out the area from other programmes slated for Gwagwalada. •A
bulldozer at work at the disputed site •A bulldozer at work at the disputed
site All the allottees were given the land for an initial period of 99 years
and to pay premium ranging from N1000 to N3000 depending on the size of their
plots while the ground rent, due for review every ten years, was pegged at N100
only. It was a thing of joy for most of the beneficiaries, who are civil
servants to be granted such allocations by government and their joy knew no
bounds, especially as the price of land and house rents began to hit the
rooftops as the years went by and owning a house in any part of the FCT became
a status symbol. Although the allottees might have found it difficult to clear
their premium at once due to the paucity of funds at the time the land was
given to them, most of them had paid up their premiums and collected their
title deeds such as Certificates of Occupancy. Armed with their papers, many of
them also began building on their plots to change their status from mere
tenants to landlords in Abuja. For such persons, they hold the former Minister
of Works and Housing, Maj. General Abdulkarim Adisa, who signed their CoO in
the year 1998 in high esteem and will always be grateful to him for his
benevolence and vision to assist them poor and the weak to own houses in the
FCT. But laudable as the scheme was meant to be, the high hopes and
expectations of the allottees were cut short sometimes in 2014. At that time,
the then Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development summoned all the land
owners to report at the headquarters of the ministry with their original
letters of allocation, acceptance letters, payment of premium and any other
documents that would ascertain their ownership of the land in question.
The
allottees complied, producing all the documents required and thanking their
stars for having fully paid for their plots. For this class, they were merely
waiting for the government to provide the promised Site/Services like access
road, power and water to enable them to move into the site and fully develop
their houses and move into them. Some others, who did not want to wait for the
government had gone ahead and erected houses on their plots pending when the
needed infrastructure promised by the government would spring up in the massive
estate. But how wrong were they believe that government was serious with its
promise to provide services for them after allocating them the said plots of
land?
Perhaps, looking at the strategic location of the land and considering
the value it has acquired over the years and coupled with the amount of money
it can make in real terms, the FMLUD quietly confiscated the said plots of land
and converted it to a strange programme called Public Private Partnership Mass
Housing Scheme. In doing so, however, none of the original allottees was
informed that his land had been taken over by the same government that
allocated it to them. They were not also considered as beneficiaries of the new
PPP Mass Housing Scheme, which was put in place on the last administration. By
the time the owners of the plots reported on their land a few weeks after
verifying their ownership, the story changed. The land owners saw strange
things on their site which crushed their spirit and made them to smell a rat at
once. In place of their property, the allottees saw huge bulldozers clearing
the site and pulling down any structures on sight without uttering a word of
comfort to them. They are dazed and short of words. One of the allottees, a
widow and retiree, who gave her name as Mrs. Fasat Niagwa, said she had hoped
to complete her house and move in before long, told Sunday Vanguard that what
had been done to her could be likened to a rape and robbery. Another
disappointed allottee, Fashade Lola, complained that her building, nearing
completion, was pulled down by the bulldozers sent in by the former minister of
lands and her officials. In a strongly-worded petition to the Minister of
Works, Housing and Power, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, the complainants asked him to
urgently intervene and recover their land for them. They accused the former
minister of taking their allocations and giving them to politicians. They said:
“We had fully paid for these plots and were duly issued with relevant titles
deeds including the certificate of occupancy and many of the allottees had
moved to their plots and started some preliminary construction work at their
own pace. “Work was still in progress when the former Minister of Lands,
Housing and Urban Development directed us sometime in 2014 to come forward for
what they called “VERIFICATION OF TITLES” and we all appeared with our title
deeds and were duly verified and ascertained as the bonafide allottees.
“Surprisingly, we later got to know that the then Minister of Lands, Housing
and Urban Development had confiscated the entire plots under the National Site
and Services Scheme in Gwagwalada and converted it to a strange and illegal
so-called ‘Public Private Partnership Mass Housing Scheme’ without the
knowledge and involvement of the allottees. As if that is not provocative
enough, agents of the former Minister moved into our already developed plots
and bulldozed the structures on ground to give way for their illegality. “Our
plots were never revoked but illegally encroached upon and confiscated by the
former minister and her agents. They have commenced development on the land,
destroying existing structures on and have bringing untold hardship on us the
valid owners of the plots. Turning to Fashola, they stranded allotteess said:
“We know you are a man of unquestionable pedigree with zero tolerance for
impunity, injustice and flagrant abuse of the right of Nigerian citizens under
any guise such as has been meted out on us by your predecessors in office. “We
write this letter in protest to draw your attention to our plight and the
injustice we and thousands of other Nigerians who are beneficiaries of this
scheme have suffered in the hands of the past administration. Our cursory
investigation shows that our plots were illegally seized and allocated to
political cronies at the expense of the real allottees with valid titles. “We
aware of your antecedents as the Executive Governor in Lagos State for eight
years and we strongly believe that you are still the same incorruptible,
fearless and God-fearing BRF who cannot stand by and watch this happen to
helpless Nigerians. “We plead with you today to kindly step in and restore our
plots to us in the interest of justice, equity and fair play which are the
hallmark of this administration,” the allottees pleaded with the minister.
However, when contacted on the development, the immediate past Minister for
Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi, said she did not do
anything personal on the said land and that whatever might have happened there
was done in the national interest. Eyakenyi told Vanguard that she could not
have taken anybody’s land and converted to her personal use given her desire to
make more houses available to Nigerians when she was at the ministry. “I could
not have done anything against my oath of office and there was no way I could
have taken a decision against the overall national interest,” she said. But as
the dire situation confronts the poor land allottees, clipping their hopes in
the balance, fear, anxiety and desperation have enveloped their troubled lives.
And all they ask is: “Can Fashola remove this burdensome nightmare from their
necks and make them smile once again?”. Attached, are pictures of the
bulldozers clearing the land with property of the original owners for the PPP
Massing Housing Scheme. 37 Shares 3111 Abiodun View all posts by Abiodun →
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2,000 indigent FG land allottees in Gwagwalada swindled by officials
On February 14, 201611:15 amIn Crime Alert, NewsComments
37
Shares
3111
By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor
Something despicable has just happened to over 2,000 poor Nigerians
allocated land in Gwagwalada, a thriving suburb of Abuja. The strategic
piece of land, measuring over 200 hectares, was allocated to the
beneficiaries drawn from all parts of Nigeria in 1992 when the Federal
Capital Territory was more of a village than a township. Then, it was
like buying poverty to be given a piece of land outside Maitama and
Asokoro, the two most developed and preferred districts of Abuja. The
mighty and powerful who control the levers of government flock around
the two areas while the poor seek solace in Nyanya, Suleja and
Gwagwalada and other slumps that have sprung up near the FCT.
However, the land allocated to these ordinary Nigerians was properly
laid out and advertised by the Federal Government under its Site and
Services Scheme through the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban
Development (FMLUD). That was in 1992 when Gwagwalada was nothing but a
thick bush burnished by searing sun, ravaged by insecurity and
desecrated by land speculators.
But the ever optimistic and patriotic Nigerians, who had unwavering
faith in the system, damned the negative factors and invested their
money in the said area. As a result, as soon as the FMLUD advertised for
the sale of the land, the allottees went forward, filled the papers and
paid for the land.
In one of the allocations made with Ref No: FCT/SAS/GWAL/LD/73, the then
Lands Allocation Committee approved and released allocations to the
over 2,000 Nigerians for the building of houses. To underscore the
importance attached to the project, the Federal Government specifically
designated the estate as a low density facility and clearly marked out
the area from other programmes slated for Gwagwalada.
•A bulldozer at work at the disputed site
•A bulldozer at work at the disputed site
All the allottees were given the land for an initial period of 99 years
and to pay premium ranging from N1000 to N3000 depending on the size of
their plots while the ground rent, due for review every ten years, was
pegged at N100 only.
It was a thing of joy for most of the beneficiaries, who are civil
servants to be granted such allocations by government and their joy knew
no bounds, especially as the price of land and house rents began to hit
the rooftops as the years went by and owning a house in any part of the
FCT became a status symbol.
Although the allottees might have found it difficult to clear their
premium at once due to the paucity of funds at the time the land was
given to them, most of them had paid up their premiums and collected
their title deeds such as Certificates of Occupancy.
Armed with their papers, many of them also began building on their plots
to change their status from mere tenants to landlords in Abuja. For
such persons, they hold the former Minister of Works and Housing, Maj.
General Abdulkarim Adisa, who signed their CoO in the year 1998 in high
esteem and will always be grateful to him for his benevolence and vision
to assist them poor and the weak to own houses in the FCT.
But laudable as the scheme was meant to be, the high hopes and
expectations of the allottees were cut short sometimes in 2014. At that
time, the then Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development summoned
all the land owners to report at the headquarters of the ministry with
their original letters of allocation, acceptance letters, payment of
premium and any other documents that would ascertain their ownership of
the land in question. The allottees complied, producing all the
documents required and thanking their stars for having fully paid for
their plots. For this class, they were merely waiting for the government
to provide the promised Site/Services like access road, power and water
to enable them to move into the site and fully develop their houses and
move into them. Some others, who did not want to wait for the
government had gone ahead and erected houses on their plots pending when
the needed infrastructure promised by the government would spring up in
the massive estate.
But how wrong were they believe that government was serious with its
promise to provide services for them after allocating them the said
plots of land? Perhaps, looking at the strategic location of the land
and considering the value it has acquired over the years and coupled
with the amount of money it can make in real terms, the FMLUD quietly
confiscated the said plots of land and converted it to a strange
programme called Public Private Partnership Mass Housing Scheme.
In doing so, however, none of the original allottees was informed that
his land had been taken over by the same government that allocated it to
them. They were not also considered as beneficiaries of the new PPP
Mass Housing Scheme, which was put in place on the last administration.
By the time the owners of the plots reported on their land a few weeks
after verifying their ownership, the story changed. The land owners saw
strange things on their site which crushed their spirit and made them to
smell a rat at once.
In place of their property, the allottees saw huge bulldozers clearing
the site and pulling down any structures on sight without uttering a
word of comfort to them. They are dazed and short of words.
One of the allottees, a widow and retiree, who gave her name as Mrs.
Fasat Niagwa, said she had hoped to complete her house and move in
before long, told Sunday Vanguard that what had been done to her could
be likened to a rape and robbery.
Another disappointed allottee, Fashade Lola, complained that her
building, nearing completion, was pulled down by the bulldozers sent in
by the former minister of lands and her officials.
In a strongly-worded petition to the Minister of Works, Housing and
Power, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, the complainants asked him to urgently
intervene and recover their land for them.
They accused the former minister of taking their allocations and giving
them to politicians.
They said: “We had fully paid for these plots and were duly issued with
relevant titles deeds including the certificate of occupancy and many of
the allottees had moved to their plots and started some preliminary
construction work at their own pace.
“Work was still in progress when the former Minister of Lands, Housing
and Urban Development directed us sometime in 2014 to come forward for
what they called “VERIFICATION OF TITLES” and we all appeared with our
title deeds and were duly verified and ascertained as the bonafide
allottees.
“Surprisingly, we later got to know that the then Minister of Lands,
Housing and Urban Development had confiscated the entire plots under the
National Site and Services Scheme in Gwagwalada and converted it to a
strange and illegal so-called ‘Public Private Partnership Mass Housing
Scheme’ without the knowledge and involvement of the allottees. As if
that is not provocative enough, agents of the former Minister moved into
our already developed plots and bulldozed the structures on ground to
give way for their illegality.
“Our plots were never revoked but illegally encroached upon and
confiscated by the former minister and her agents. They have commenced
development on the land, destroying existing structures on and have
bringing untold hardship on us the valid owners of the plots.
Turning to Fashola, they stranded allotteess said: “We know you are a
man of unquestionable pedigree with zero tolerance for impunity,
injustice and flagrant abuse of the right of Nigerian citizens under any
guise such as has been meted out on us by your predecessors in office.
“We write this letter in protest to draw your attention to our plight
and the injustice we and thousands of other Nigerians who are
beneficiaries of this scheme have suffered in the hands of the past
administration. Our cursory investigation shows that our plots were
illegally seized and allocated to political cronies at the expense of
the real allottees with valid titles.
“We aware of your antecedents as the Executive Governor in Lagos State
for eight years and we strongly believe that you are still the same
incorruptible, fearless and God-fearing BRF who cannot stand by and
watch this happen to helpless Nigerians.
“We plead with you today to kindly step in and restore our plots to us
in the interest of justice, equity and fair play which are the hallmark
of this administration,” the allottees pleaded with the minister.
However, when contacted on the development, the immediate past Minister
for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi, said she
did not do anything personal on the said land and that whatever might
have happened there was done in the national interest.
Eyakenyi told Vanguard that she could not have taken anybody’s land and
converted to her personal use given her desire to make more houses
available to Nigerians when she was at the ministry.
“I could not have done anything against my oath of office and there was
no way I could have taken a decision against the overall national
interest,” she said.
But as the dire situation confronts the poor land allottees, clipping
their hopes in the balance, fear, anxiety and desperation have enveloped
their troubled lives. And all they ask is: “Can Fashola remove this
burdensome nightmare from their necks and make them smile once again?”.
Attached, are pictures of the bulldozers clearing the land with property
of the original owners for the PPP Massing Housing Scheme.
37
Shares
3111
Abiodun
View all posts by Abiodun →
Previous Post
obasanjo 6
Only God can give happiness, says Obasanjo
Next Post
$100 oil would not return any time soon – Oil bosses
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CIVIL WAR RELIC: Police recover bomb at building site in Enugu
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Many killed as gun, knife
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FG receives US$0.29m health equipment from AfDB
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Why we have sex
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Cult leader insists on sex to initiate secondary school female members
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$100 oil would not return any time soon
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2,000 indigent FG land allottees in Gwagwalada swindled by officials
On February 14, 201611:15 amIn Crime Alert, NewsComments
37
Shares
3111
By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor
Something despicable has just happened to over 2,000 poor Nigerians
allocated land in Gwagwalada, a thriving suburb of Abuja. The strategic
piece of land, measuring over 200 hectares, was allocated to the
beneficiaries drawn from all parts of Nigeria in 1992 when the Federal
Capital Territory was more of a village than a township. Then, it was
like buying poverty to be given a piece of land outside Maitama and
Asokoro, the two most developed and preferred districts of Abuja. The
mighty and powerful who control the levers of government flock around
the two areas while the poor seek solace in Nyanya, Suleja and
Gwagwalada and other slumps that have sprung up near the FCT.
However, the land allocated to these ordinary Nigerians was properly
laid out and advertised by the Federal Government under its Site and
Services Scheme through the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban
Development (FMLUD). That was in 1992 when Gwagwalada was nothing but a
thick bush burnished by searing sun, ravaged by insecurity and
desecrated by land speculators.
But the ever optimistic and patriotic Nigerians, who had unwavering
faith in the system, damned the negative factors and invested their
money in the said area. As a result, as soon as the FMLUD advertised for
the sale of the land, the allottees went forward, filled the papers and
paid for the land.
In one of the allocations made with Ref No: FCT/SAS/GWAL/LD/73, the then
Lands Allocation Committee approved and released allocations to the
over 2,000 Nigerians for the building of houses. To underscore the
importance attached to the project, the Federal Government specifically
designated the estate as a low density facility and clearly marked out
the area from other programmes slated for Gwagwalada.
•A bulldozer at work at the disputed site
•A bulldozer at work at the disputed site
All the allottees were given the land for an initial period of 99 years
and to pay premium ranging from N1000 to N3000 depending on the size of
their plots while the ground rent, due for review every ten years, was
pegged at N100 only.
It was a thing of joy for most of the beneficiaries, who are civil
servants to be granted such allocations by government and their joy knew
no bounds, especially as the price of land and house rents began to hit
the rooftops as the years went by and owning a house in any part of the
FCT became a status symbol.
Although the allottees might have found it difficult to clear their
premium at once due to the paucity of funds at the time the land was
given to them, most of them had paid up their premiums and collected
their title deeds such as Certificates of Occupancy.
Armed with their papers, many of them also began building on their plots
to change their status from mere tenants to landlords in Abuja. For
such persons, they hold the former Minister of Works and Housing, Maj.
General Abdulkarim Adisa, who signed their CoO in the year 1998 in high
esteem and will always be grateful to him for his benevolence and vision
to assist them poor and the weak to own houses in the FCT.
But laudable as the scheme was meant to be, the high hopes and
expectations of the allottees were cut short sometimes in 2014. At that
time, the then Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development summoned
all the land owners to report at the headquarters of the ministry with
their original letters of allocation, acceptance letters, payment of
premium and any other documents that would ascertain their ownership of
the land in question. The allottees complied, producing all the
documents required and thanking their stars for having fully paid for
their plots. For this class, they were merely waiting for the government
to provide the promised Site/Services like access road, power and water
to enable them to move into the site and fully develop their houses and
move into them. Some others, who did not want to wait for the
government had gone ahead and erected houses on their plots pending when
the needed infrastructure promised by the government would spring up in
the massive estate.
But how wrong were they believe that government was serious with its
promise to provide services for them after allocating them the said
plots of land? Perhaps, looking at the strategic location of the land
and considering the value it has acquired over the years and coupled
with the amount of money it can make in real terms, the FMLUD quietly
confiscated the said plots of land and converted it to a strange
programme called Public Private Partnership Mass Housing Scheme.
In doing so, however, none of the original allottees was informed that
his land had been taken over by the same government that allocated it to
them. They were not also considered as beneficiaries of the new PPP
Mass Housing Scheme, which was put in place on the last administration.
By the time the owners of the plots reported on their land a few weeks
after verifying their ownership, the story changed. The land owners saw
strange things on their site which crushed their spirit and made them to
smell a rat at once.
In place of their property, the allottees saw huge bulldozers clearing
the site and pulling down any structures on sight without uttering a
word of comfort to them. They are dazed and short of words.
One of the allottees, a widow and retiree, who gave her name as Mrs.
Fasat Niagwa, said she had hoped to complete her house and move in
before long, told Sunday Vanguard that what had been done to her could
be likened to a rape and robbery.
Another disappointed allottee, Fashade Lola, complained that her
building, nearing completion, was pulled down by the bulldozers sent in
by the former minister of lands and her officials.
In a strongly-worded petition to the Minister of Works, Housing and
Power, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, the complainants asked him to urgently
intervene and recover their land for them.
They accused the former minister of taking their allocations and giving
them to politicians.
They said: “We had fully paid for these plots and were duly issued with
relevant titles deeds including the certificate of occupancy and many of
the allottees had moved to their plots and started some preliminary
construction work at their own pace.
“Work was still in progress when the former Minister of Lands, Housing
and Urban Development directed us sometime in 2014 to come forward for
what they called “VERIFICATION OF TITLES” and we all appeared with our
title deeds and were duly verified and ascertained as the bonafide
allottees.
“Surprisingly, we later got to know that the then Minister of Lands,
Housing and Urban Development had confiscated the entire plots under the
National Site and Services Scheme in Gwagwalada and converted it to a
strange and illegal so-called ‘Public Private Partnership Mass Housing
Scheme’ without the knowledge and involvement of the allottees. As if
that is not provocative enough, agents of the former Minister moved into
our already developed plots and bulldozed the structures on ground to
give way for their illegality.
“Our plots were never revoked but illegally encroached upon and
confiscated by the former minister and her agents. They have commenced
development on the land, destroying existing structures on and have
bringing untold hardship on us the valid owners of the plots.
Turning to Fashola, they stranded allotteess said: “We know you are a
man of unquestionable pedigree with zero tolerance for impunity,
injustice and flagrant abuse of the right of Nigerian citizens under any
guise such as has been meted out on us by your predecessors in office.
“We write this letter in protest to draw your attention to our plight
and the injustice we and thousands of other Nigerians who are
beneficiaries of this scheme have suffered in the hands of the past
administration. Our cursory investigation shows that our plots were
illegally seized and allocated to political cronies at the expense of
the real allottees with valid titles.
“We aware of your antecedents as the Executive Governor in Lagos State
for eight years and we strongly believe that you are still the same
incorruptible, fearless and God-fearing BRF who cannot stand by and
watch this happen to helpless Nigerians.
“We plead with you today to kindly step in and restore our plots to us
in the interest of justice, equity and fair play which are the hallmark
of this administration,” the allottees pleaded with the minister.
However, when contacted on the development, the immediate past Minister
for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi, said she
did not do anything personal on the said land and that whatever might
have happened there was done in the national interest.
Eyakenyi told Vanguard that she could not have taken anybody’s land and
converted to her personal use given her desire to make more houses
available to Nigerians when she was at the ministry.
“I could not have done anything against my oath of office and there was
no way I could have taken a decision against the overall national
interest,” she said.
But as the dire situation confronts the poor land allottees, clipping
their hopes in the balance, fear, anxiety and desperation have enveloped
their troubled lives. And all they ask is: “Can Fashola remove this
burdensome nightmare from their necks and make them smile once again?”.
Attached, are pictures of the bulldozers clearing the land with property
of the original owners for the PPP Massing Housing Scheme.
37
Shares
3111
Abiodun
View all posts by Abiodun →
Previous Post
obasanjo 6
Only God can give happiness, says Obasanjo
Next Post
$100 oil would not return any time soon – Oil bosses
You might also like
CIVIL WAR RELIC: Police recover bomb at building site in Enugu
CIVIL WAR RELIC: Police recover bomb at building site in Enugu
Many killed as gun, knife
Many killed as gun, knife
I caught him masturbating
I caught him masturbating
FG receives US$0.29m health equipment from AfDB
FG receives US$0.29m health equipment from AfDB
Why we have sex
Why we have sex
Cult leader insists on sex to initiate secondary school female members
Cult leader insists on sex to initiate secondary school female members
Obama enjoins Supreme Court fight in election year
Obama enjoins Supreme Court fight in election year
$100 oil would not return any time soon
$100 oil would not return any time soon
Recommended by
Disclaimer
Comments expressed here do not reflect the opinions of vanguard
newspapers or any employee thereof.
0 comments
Livefyre
Sign in
3 people listening
huggssHelpvisa
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/2000-indigent-fg-land-allottees-in-gwagwalada-swindled-by-officials/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/2000-indigent-fg-land-allottees-in-gwagwalada-swindled-by-officials/
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publication in Nigeria covering Niger delta, general national news,
politics, business, energy, sports, entertainment, fashion,lifestyle
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2,000 indigent FG land allottees in Gwagwalada swindled by officials
On February 14, 201611:15 amIn Crime Alert, NewsComments
37
Shares
3111
By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor
Something despicable has just happened to over 2,000 poor Nigerians
allocated land in Gwagwalada, a thriving suburb of Abuja. The strategic
piece of land, measuring over 200 hectares, was allocated to the
beneficiaries drawn from all parts of Nigeria in 1992 when the Federal
Capital Territory was more of a village than a township. Then, it was
like buying poverty to be given a piece of land outside Maitama and
Asokoro, the two most developed and preferred districts of Abuja. The
mighty and powerful who control the levers of government flock around
the two areas while the poor seek solace in Nyanya, Suleja and
Gwagwalada and other slumps that have sprung up near the FCT.
However, the land allocated to these ordinary Nigerians was properly
laid out and advertised by the Federal Government under its Site and
Services Scheme through the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban
Development (FMLUD). That was in 1992 when Gwagwalada was nothing but a
thick bush burnished by searing sun, ravaged by insecurity and
desecrated by land speculators.
But the ever optimistic and patriotic Nigerians, who had unwavering
faith in the system, damned the negative factors and invested their
money in the said area. As a result, as soon as the FMLUD advertised for
the sale of the land, the allottees went forward, filled the papers and
paid for the land.
In one of the allocations made with Ref No: FCT/SAS/GWAL/LD/73, the then
Lands Allocation Committee approved and released allocations to the
over 2,000 Nigerians for the building of houses. To underscore the
importance attached to the project, the Federal Government specifically
designated the estate as a low density facility and clearly marked out
the area from other programmes slated for Gwagwalada.
•A bulldozer at work at the disputed site
•A bulldozer at work at the disputed site
All the allottees were given the land for an initial period of 99 years
and to pay premium ranging from N1000 to N3000 depending on the size of
their plots while the ground rent, due for review every ten years, was
pegged at N100 only.
It was a thing of joy for most of the beneficiaries, who are civil
servants to be granted such allocations by government and their joy knew
no bounds, especially as the price of land and house rents began to hit
the rooftops as the years went by and owning a house in any part of the
FCT became a status symbol.
Although the allottees might have found it difficult to clear their
premium at once due to the paucity of funds at the time the land was
given to them, most of them had paid up their premiums and collected
their title deeds such as Certificates of Occupancy.
Armed with their papers, many of them also began building on their plots
to change their status from mere tenants to landlords in Abuja. For
such persons, they hold the former Minister of Works and Housing, Maj.
General Abdulkarim Adisa, who signed their CoO in the year 1998 in high
esteem and will always be grateful to him for his benevolence and vision
to assist them poor and the weak to own houses in the FCT.
But laudable as the scheme was meant to be, the high hopes and
expectations of the allottees were cut short sometimes in 2014. At that
time, the then Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development summoned
all the land owners to report at the headquarters of the ministry with
their original letters of allocation, acceptance letters, payment of
premium and any other documents that would ascertain their ownership of
the land in question. The allottees complied, producing all the
documents required and thanking their stars for having fully paid for
their plots. For this class, they were merely waiting for the government
to provide the promised Site/Services like access road, power and water
to enable them to move into the site and fully develop their houses and
move into them. Some others, who did not want to wait for the
government had gone ahead and erected houses on their plots pending when
the needed infrastructure promised by the government would spring up in
the massive estate.
But how wrong were they believe that government was serious with its
promise to provide services for them after allocating them the said
plots of land? Perhaps, looking at the strategic location of the land
and considering the value it has acquired over the years and coupled
with the amount of money it can make in real terms, the FMLUD quietly
confiscated the said plots of land and converted it to a strange
programme called Public Private Partnership Mass Housing Scheme.
In doing so, however, none of the original allottees was informed that
his land had been taken over by the same government that allocated it to
them. They were not also considered as beneficiaries of the new PPP
Mass Housing Scheme, which was put in place on the last administration.
By the time the owners of the plots reported on their land a few weeks
after verifying their ownership, the story changed. The land owners saw
strange things on their site which crushed their spirit and made them to
smell a rat at once.
In place of their property, the allottees saw huge bulldozers clearing
the site and pulling down any structures on sight without uttering a
word of comfort to them. They are dazed and short of words.
One of the allottees, a widow and retiree, who gave her name as Mrs.
Fasat Niagwa, said she had hoped to complete her house and move in
before long, told Sunday Vanguard that what had been done to her could
be likened to a rape and robbery.
Another disappointed allottee, Fashade Lola, complained that her
building, nearing completion, was pulled down by the bulldozers sent in
by the former minister of lands and her officials.
In a strongly-worded petition to the Minister of Works, Housing and
Power, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, the complainants asked him to urgently
intervene and recover their land for them.
They accused the former minister of taking their allocations and giving
them to politicians.
They said: “We had fully paid for these plots and were duly issued with
relevant titles deeds including the certificate of occupancy and many of
the allottees had moved to their plots and started some preliminary
construction work at their own pace.
“Work was still in progress when the former Minister of Lands, Housing
and Urban Development directed us sometime in 2014 to come forward for
what they called “VERIFICATION OF TITLES” and we all appeared with our
title deeds and were duly verified and ascertained as the bonafide
allottees.
“Surprisingly, we later got to know that the then Minister of Lands,
Housing and Urban Development had confiscated the entire plots under the
National Site and Services Scheme in Gwagwalada and converted it to a
strange and illegal so-called ‘Public Private Partnership Mass Housing
Scheme’ without the knowledge and involvement of the allottees. As if
that is not provocative enough, agents of the former Minister moved into
our already developed plots and bulldozed the structures on ground to
give way for their illegality.
“Our plots were never revoked but illegally encroached upon and
confiscated by the former minister and her agents. They have commenced
development on the land, destroying existing structures on and have
bringing untold hardship on us the valid owners of the plots.
Turning to Fashola, they stranded allotteess said: “We know you are a
man of unquestionable pedigree with zero tolerance for impunity,
injustice and flagrant abuse of the right of Nigerian citizens under any
guise such as has been meted out on us by your predecessors in office.
“We write this letter in protest to draw your attention to our plight
and the injustice we and thousands of other Nigerians who are
beneficiaries of this scheme have suffered in the hands of the past
administration. Our cursory investigation shows that our plots were
illegally seized and allocated to political cronies at the expense of
the real allottees with valid titles.
“We aware of your antecedents as the Executive Governor in Lagos State
for eight years and we strongly believe that you are still the same
incorruptible, fearless and God-fearing BRF who cannot stand by and
watch this happen to helpless Nigerians.
“We plead with you today to kindly step in and restore our plots to us
in the interest of justice, equity and fair play which are the hallmark
of this administration,” the allottees pleaded with the minister.
However, when contacted on the development, the immediate past Minister
for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi, said she
did not do anything personal on the said land and that whatever might
have happened there was done in the national interest.
Eyakenyi told Vanguard that she could not have taken anybody’s land and
converted to her personal use given her desire to make more houses
available to Nigerians when she was at the ministry.
“I could not have done anything against my oath of office and there was
no way I could have taken a decision against the overall national
interest,” she said.
But as the dire situation confronts the poor land allottees, clipping
their hopes in the balance, fear, anxiety and desperation have enveloped
their troubled lives. And all they ask is: “Can Fashola remove this
burdensome nightmare from their necks and make them smile once again?”.
Attached, are pictures of the bulldozers clearing the land with property
of the original owners for the PPP Massing Housing Scheme.
37
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Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/2000-indigent-fg-land-allottees-in-gwagwalada-swindled-by-officials/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/2000-indigent-fg-land-allottees-in-gwagwalada-swindled-by-officials/
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A Nigerian newspaper and Online version of the Vanguard, a daily
publication in Nigeria covering Niger delta, general national news,
politics, business, energy, sports, entertainment, fashion,lifestyle
human interest stories, etc
Search for:
Home
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Sports
Politics
Business
Tech
Entertainment
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2,000 indigent FG land allottees in Gwagwalada swindled by officials
On February 14, 201611:15 amIn Crime Alert, NewsComments
37
Shares
3111
By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor
Something despicable has just happened to over 2,000 poor Nigerians
allocated land in Gwagwalada, a thriving suburb of Abuja. The strategic
piece of land, measuring over 200 hectares, was allocated to the
beneficiaries drawn from all parts of Nigeria in 1992 when the Federal
Capital Territory was more of a village than a township. Then, it was
like buying poverty to be given a piece of land outside Maitama and
Asokoro, the two most developed and preferred districts of Abuja. The
mighty and powerful who control the levers of government flock around
the two areas while the poor seek solace in Nyanya, Suleja and
Gwagwalada and other slumps that have sprung up near the FCT.
However, the land allocated to these ordinary Nigerians was properly
laid out and advertised by the Federal Government under its Site and
Services Scheme through the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban
Development (FMLUD). That was in 1992 when Gwagwalada was nothing but a
thick bush burnished by searing sun, ravaged by insecurity and
desecrated by land speculators.
But the ever optimistic and patriotic Nigerians, who had unwavering
faith in the system, damned the negative factors and invested their
money in the said area. As a result, as soon as the FMLUD advertised for
the sale of the land, the allottees went forward, filled the papers and
paid for the land.
In one of the allocations made with Ref No: FCT/SAS/GWAL/LD/73, the then
Lands Allocation Committee approved and released allocations to the
over 2,000 Nigerians for the building of houses. To underscore the
importance attached to the project, the Federal Government specifically
designated the estate as a low density facility and clearly marked out
the area from other programmes slated for Gwagwalada.
•A bulldozer at work at the disputed site
•A bulldozer at work at the disputed site
All the allottees were given the land for an initial period of 99 years
and to pay premium ranging from N1000 to N3000 depending on the size of
their plots while the ground rent, due for review every ten years, was
pegged at N100 only.
It was a thing of joy for most of the beneficiaries, who are civil
servants to be granted such allocations by government and their joy knew
no bounds, especially as the price of land and house rents began to hit
the rooftops as the years went by and owning a house in any part of the
FCT became a status symbol.
Although the allottees might have found it difficult to clear their
premium at once due to the paucity of funds at the time the land was
given to them, most of them had paid up their premiums and collected
their title deeds such as Certificates of Occupancy.
Armed with their papers, many of them also began building on their plots
to change their status from mere tenants to landlords in Abuja. For
such persons, they hold the former Minister of Works and Housing, Maj.
General Abdulkarim Adisa, who signed their CoO in the year 1998 in high
esteem and will always be grateful to him for his benevolence and vision
to assist them poor and the weak to own houses in the FCT.
But laudable as the scheme was meant to be, the high hopes and
expectations of the allottees were cut short sometimes in 2014. At that
time, the then Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development summoned
all the land owners to report at the headquarters of the ministry with
their original letters of allocation, acceptance letters, payment of
premium and any other documents that would ascertain their ownership of
the land in question. The allottees complied, producing all the
documents required and thanking their stars for having fully paid for
their plots. For this class, they were merely waiting for the government
to provide the promised Site/Services like access road, power and water
to enable them to move into the site and fully develop their houses and
move into them. Some others, who did not want to wait for the
government had gone ahead and erected houses on their plots pending when
the needed infrastructure promised by the government would spring up in
the massive estate.
But how wrong were they believe that government was serious with its
promise to provide services for them after allocating them the said
plots of land? Perhaps, looking at the strategic location of the land
and considering the value it has acquired over the years and coupled
with the amount of money it can make in real terms, the FMLUD quietly
confiscated the said plots of land and converted it to a strange
programme called Public Private Partnership Mass Housing Scheme.
In doing so, however, none of the original allottees was informed that
his land had been taken over by the same government that allocated it to
them. They were not also considered as beneficiaries of the new PPP
Mass Housing Scheme, which was put in place on the last administration.
By the time the owners of the plots reported on their land a few weeks
after verifying their ownership, the story changed. The land owners saw
strange things on their site which crushed their spirit and made them to
smell a rat at once.
In place of their property, the allottees saw huge bulldozers clearing
the site and pulling down any structures on sight without uttering a
word of comfort to them. They are dazed and short of words.
One of the allottees, a widow and retiree, who gave her name as Mrs.
Fasat Niagwa, said she had hoped to complete her house and move in
before long, told Sunday Vanguard that what had been done to her could
be likened to a rape and robbery.
Another disappointed allottee, Fashade Lola, complained that her
building, nearing completion, was pulled down by the bulldozers sent in
by the former minister of lands and her officials.
In a strongly-worded petition to the Minister of Works, Housing and
Power, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, the complainants asked him to urgently
intervene and recover their land for them.
They accused the former minister of taking their allocations and giving
them to politicians.
They said: “We had fully paid for these plots and were duly issued with
relevant titles deeds including the certificate of occupancy and many of
the allottees had moved to their plots and started some preliminary
construction work at their own pace.
“Work was still in progress when the former Minister of Lands, Housing
and Urban Development directed us sometime in 2014 to come forward for
what they called “VERIFICATION OF TITLES” and we all appeared with our
title deeds and were duly verified and ascertained as the bonafide
allottees.
“Surprisingly, we later got to know that the then Minister of Lands,
Housing and Urban Development had confiscated the entire plots under the
National Site and Services Scheme in Gwagwalada and converted it to a
strange and illegal so-called ‘Public Private Partnership Mass Housing
Scheme’ without the knowledge and involvement of the allottees. As if
that is not provocative enough, agents of the former Minister moved into
our already developed plots and bulldozed the structures on ground to
give way for their illegality.
“Our plots were never revoked but illegally encroached upon and
confiscated by the former minister and her agents. They have commenced
development on the land, destroying existing structures on and have
bringing untold hardship on us the valid owners of the plots.
Turning to Fashola, they stranded allotteess said: “We know you are a
man of unquestionable pedigree with zero tolerance for impunity,
injustice and flagrant abuse of the right of Nigerian citizens under any
guise such as has been meted out on us by your predecessors in office.
“We write this letter in protest to draw your attention to our plight
and the injustice we and thousands of other Nigerians who are
beneficiaries of this scheme have suffered in the hands of the past
administration. Our cursory investigation shows that our plots were
illegally seized and allocated to political cronies at the expense of
the real allottees with valid titles.
“We aware of your antecedents as the Executive Governor in Lagos State
for eight years and we strongly believe that you are still the same
incorruptible, fearless and God-fearing BRF who cannot stand by and
watch this happen to helpless Nigerians.
“We plead with you today to kindly step in and restore our plots to us
in the interest of justice, equity and fair play which are the hallmark
of this administration,” the allottees pleaded with the minister.
However, when contacted on the development, the immediate past Minister
for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi, said she
did not do anything personal on the said land and that whatever might
have happened there was done in the national interest.
Eyakenyi told Vanguard that she could not have taken anybody’s land and
converted to her personal use given her desire to make more houses
available to Nigerians when she was at the ministry.
“I could not have done anything against my oath of office and there was
no way I could have taken a decision against the overall national
interest,” she said.
But as the dire situation confronts the poor land allottees, clipping
their hopes in the balance, fear, anxiety and desperation have enveloped
their troubled lives. And all they ask is: “Can Fashola remove this
burdensome nightmare from their necks and make them smile once again?”.
Attached, are pictures of the bulldozers clearing the land with property
of the original owners for the PPP Massing Housing Scheme.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/2000-indigent-fg-land-allottees-in-gwagwalada-swindled-by-officials/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/2000-indigent-fg-land-allottees-in-gwagwalada-swindled-by-officials/
Vanguard Logo
Vanguard News
A Nigerian newspaper and Online version of the Vanguard, a daily
publication in Nigeria covering Niger delta, general national news,
politics, business, energy, sports, entertainment, fashion,lifestyle
human interest stories, etc
Search for:
Home
News
Sports
Politics
Business
Tech
Entertainment
Style
Editorial
Viewpoint
Forum
Jobs
Columns
Relationships
More
Breaking News
Translate
Select Language▼
2,000 indigent FG land allottees in Gwagwalada swindled by officials
On February 14, 201611:15 amIn Crime Alert, NewsComments
37
Shares
3111
By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor
Something despicable has just happened to over 2,000 poor Nigerians
allocated land in Gwagwalada, a thriving suburb of Abuja. The strategic
piece of land, measuring over 200 hectares, was allocated to the
beneficiaries drawn from all parts of Nigeria in 1992 when the Federal
Capital Territory was more of a village than a township. Then, it was
like buying poverty to be given a piece of land outside Maitama and
Asokoro, the two most developed and preferred districts of Abuja. The
mighty and powerful who control the levers of government flock around
the two areas while the poor seek solace in Nyanya, Suleja and
Gwagwalada and other slumps that have sprung up near the FCT.
However, the land allocated to these ordinary Nigerians was properly
laid out and advertised by the Federal Government under its Site and
Services Scheme through the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban
Development (FMLUD). That was in 1992 when Gwagwalada was nothing but a
thick bush burnished by searing sun, ravaged by insecurity and
desecrated by land speculators.
But the ever optimistic and patriotic Nigerians, who had unwavering
faith in the system, damned the negative factors and invested their
money in the said area. As a result, as soon as the FMLUD advertised for
the sale of the land, the allottees went forward, filled the papers and
paid for the land.
In one of the allocations made with Ref No: FCT/SAS/GWAL/LD/73, the then
Lands Allocation Committee approved and released allocations to the
over 2,000 Nigerians for the building of houses. To underscore the
importance attached to the project, the Federal Government specifically
designated the estate as a low density facility and clearly marked out
the area from other programmes slated for Gwagwalada.
•A bulldozer at work at the disputed site
•A bulldozer at work at the disputed site
All the allottees were given the land for an initial period of 99 years
and to pay premium ranging from N1000 to N3000 depending on the size of
their plots while the ground rent, due for review every ten years, was
pegged at N100 only.
It was a thing of joy for most of the beneficiaries, who are civil
servants to be granted such allocations by government and their joy knew
no bounds, especially as the price of land and house rents began to hit
the rooftops as the years went by and owning a house in any part of the
FCT became a status symbol.
Although the allottees might have found it difficult to clear their
premium at once due to the paucity of funds at the time the land was
given to them, most of them had paid up their premiums and collected
their title deeds such as Certificates of Occupancy.
Armed with their papers, many of them also began building on their plots
to change their status from mere tenants to landlords in Abuja. For
such persons, they hold the former Minister of Works and Housing, Maj.
General Abdulkarim Adisa, who signed their CoO in the year 1998 in high
esteem and will always be grateful to him for his benevolence and vision
to assist them poor and the weak to own houses in the FCT.
But laudable as the scheme was meant to be, the high hopes and
expectations of the allottees were cut short sometimes in 2014. At that
time, the then Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development summoned
all the land owners to report at the headquarters of the ministry with
their original letters of allocation, acceptance letters, payment of
premium and any other documents that would ascertain their ownership of
the land in question. The allottees complied, producing all the
documents required and thanking their stars for having fully paid for
their plots. For this class, they were merely waiting for the government
to provide the promised Site/Services like access road, power and water
to enable them to move into the site and fully develop their houses and
move into them. Some others, who did not want to wait for the
government had gone ahead and erected houses on their plots pending when
the needed infrastructure promised by the government would spring up in
the massive estate.
But how wrong were they believe that government was serious with its
promise to provide services for them after allocating them the said
plots of land? Perhaps, looking at the strategic location of the land
and considering the value it has acquired over the years and coupled
with the amount of money it can make in real terms, the FMLUD quietly
confiscated the said plots of land and converted it to a strange
programme called Public Private Partnership Mass Housing Scheme.
In doing so, however, none of the original allottees was informed that
his land had been taken over by the same government that allocated it to
them. They were not also considered as beneficiaries of the new PPP
Mass Housing Scheme, which was put in place on the last administration.
By the time the owners of the plots reported on their land a few weeks
after verifying their ownership, the story changed. The land owners saw
strange things on their site which crushed their spirit and made them to
smell a rat at once.
In place of their property, the allottees saw huge bulldozers clearing
the site and pulling down any structures on sight without uttering a
word of comfort to them. They are dazed and short of words.
One of the allottees, a widow and retiree, who gave her name as Mrs.
Fasat Niagwa, said she had hoped to complete her house and move in
before long, told Sunday Vanguard that what had been done to her could
be likened to a rape and robbery.
Another disappointed allottee, Fashade Lola, complained that her
building, nearing completion, was pulled down by the bulldozers sent in
by the former minister of lands and her officials.
In a strongly-worded petition to the Minister of Works, Housing and
Power, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, the complainants asked him to urgently
intervene and recover their land for them.
They accused the former minister of taking their allocations and giving
them to politicians.
They said: “We had fully paid for these plots and were duly issued with
relevant titles deeds including the certificate of occupancy and many of
the allottees had moved to their plots and started some preliminary
construction work at their own pace.
“Work was still in progress when the former Minister of Lands, Housing
and Urban Development directed us sometime in 2014 to come forward for
what they called “VERIFICATION OF TITLES” and we all appeared with our
title deeds and were duly verified and ascertained as the bonafide
allottees.
“Surprisingly, we later got to know that the then Minister of Lands,
Housing and Urban Development had confiscated the entire plots under the
National Site and Services Scheme in Gwagwalada and converted it to a
strange and illegal so-called ‘Public Private Partnership Mass Housing
Scheme’ without the knowledge and involvement of the allottees. As if
that is not provocative enough, agents of the former Minister moved into
our already developed plots and bulldozed the structures on ground to
give way for their illegality.
“Our plots were never revoked but illegally encroached upon and
confiscated by the former minister and her agents. They have commenced
development on the land, destroying existing structures on and have
bringing untold hardship on us the valid owners of the plots.
Turning to Fashola, they stranded allotteess said: “We know you are a
man of unquestionable pedigree with zero tolerance for impunity,
injustice and flagrant abuse of the right of Nigerian citizens under any
guise such as has been meted out on us by your predecessors in office.
“We write this letter in protest to draw your attention to our plight
and the injustice we and thousands of other Nigerians who are
beneficiaries of this scheme have suffered in the hands of the past
administration. Our cursory investigation shows that our plots were
illegally seized and allocated to political cronies at the expense of
the real allottees with valid titles.
“We aware of your antecedents as the Executive Governor in Lagos State
for eight years and we strongly believe that you are still the same
incorruptible, fearless and God-fearing BRF who cannot stand by and
watch this happen to helpless Nigerians.
“We plead with you today to kindly step in and restore our plots to us
in the interest of justice, equity and fair play which are the hallmark
of this administration,” the allottees pleaded with the minister.
However, when contacted on the development, the immediate past Minister
for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi, said she
did not do anything personal on the said land and that whatever might
have happened there was done in the national interest.
Eyakenyi told Vanguard that she could not have taken anybody’s land and
converted to her personal use given her desire to make more houses
available to Nigerians when she was at the ministry.
“I could not have done anything against my oath of office and there was
no way I could have taken a decision against the overall national
interest,” she said.
But as the dire situation confronts the poor land allottees, clipping
their hopes in the balance, fear, anxiety and desperation have enveloped
their troubled lives. And all they ask is: “Can Fashola remove this
burdensome nightmare from their necks and make them smile once again?”.
Attached, are pictures of the bulldozers clearing the land with property
of the original owners for the PPP Massing Housing Scheme.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/2000-indigent-fg-land-allottees-in-gwagwalada-swindled-by-officials/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/2000-indigent-fg-land-allottees-in-gwagwalada-swindled-by-officials/
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2,000 indigent FG land allottees in Gwagwalada swindled by officials
On February 14, 201611:15 amIn Crime Alert, NewsComments
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By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor
Something despicable has just happened to over 2,000 poor Nigerians
allocated land in Gwagwalada, a thriving suburb of Abuja. The strategic
piece of land, measuring over 200 hectares, was allocated to the
beneficiaries drawn from all parts of Nigeria in 1992 when the Federal
Capital Territory was more of a village than a township. Then, it was
like buying poverty to be given a piece of land outside Maitama and
Asokoro, the two most developed and preferred districts of Abuja. The
mighty and powerful who control the levers of government flock around
the two areas while the poor seek solace in Nyanya, Suleja and
Gwagwalada and other slumps that have sprung up near the FCT.
However, the land allocated to these ordinary Nigerians was properly
laid out and advertised by the Federal Government under its Site and
Services Scheme through the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban
Development (FMLUD). That was in 1992 when Gwagwalada was nothing but a
thick bush burnished by searing sun, ravaged by insecurity and
desecrated by land speculators.
But the ever optimistic and patriotic Nigerians, who had unwavering
faith in the system, damned the negative factors and invested their
money in the said area. As a result, as soon as the FMLUD advertised for
the sale of the land, the allottees went forward, filled the papers and
paid for the land.
In one of the allocations made with Ref No: FCT/SAS/GWAL/LD/73, the then
Lands Allocation Committee approved and released allocations to the
over 2,000 Nigerians for the building of houses. To underscore the
importance attached to the project, the Federal Government specifically
designated the estate as a low density facility and clearly marked out
the area from other programmes slated for Gwagwalada.
•A bulldozer at work at the disputed site
•A bulldozer at work at the disputed site
All the allottees were given the land for an initial period of 99 years
and to pay premium ranging from N1000 to N3000 depending on the size of
their plots while the ground rent, due for review every ten years, was
pegged at N100 only.
It was a thing of joy for most of the beneficiaries, who are civil
servants to be granted such allocations by government and their joy knew
no bounds, especially as the price of land and house rents began to hit
the rooftops as the years went by and owning a house in any part of the
FCT became a status symbol.
Although the allottees might have found it difficult to clear their
premium at once due to the paucity of funds at the time the land was
given to them, most of them had paid up their premiums and collected
their title deeds such as Certificates of Occupancy.
Armed with their papers, many of them also began building on their plots
to change their status from mere tenants to landlords in Abuja. For
such persons, they hold the former Minister of Works and Housing, Maj.
General Abdulkarim Adisa, who signed their CoO in the year 1998 in high
esteem and will always be grateful to him for his benevolence and vision
to assist them poor and the weak to own houses in the FCT.
But laudable as the scheme was meant to be, the high hopes and
expectations of the allottees were cut short sometimes in 2014. At that
time, the then Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development summoned
all the land owners to report at the headquarters of the ministry with
their original letters of allocation, acceptance letters, payment of
premium and any other documents that would ascertain their ownership of
the land in question. The allottees complied, producing all the
documents required and thanking their stars for having fully paid for
their plots. For this class, they were merely waiting for the government
to provide the promised Site/Services like access road, power and water
to enable them to move into the site and fully develop their houses and
move into them. Some others, who did not want to wait for the
government had gone ahead and erected houses on their plots pending when
the needed infrastructure promised by the government would spring up in
the massive estate.
But how wrong were they believe that government was serious with its
promise to provide services for them after allocating them the said
plots of land? Perhaps, looking at the strategic location of the land
and considering the value it has acquired over the years and coupled
with the amount of money it can make in real terms, the FMLUD quietly
confiscated the said plots of land and converted it to a strange
programme called Public Private Partnership Mass Housing Scheme.
In doing so, however, none of the original allottees was informed that
his land had been taken over by the same government that allocated it to
them. They were not also considered as beneficiaries of the new PPP
Mass Housing Scheme, which was put in place on the last administration.
By the time the owners of the plots reported on their land a few weeks
after verifying their ownership, the story changed. The land owners saw
strange things on their site which crushed their spirit and made them to
smell a rat at once.
In place of their property, the allottees saw huge bulldozers clearing
the site and pulling down any structures on sight without uttering a
word of comfort to them. They are dazed and short of words.
One of the allottees, a widow and retiree, who gave her name as Mrs.
Fasat Niagwa, said she had hoped to complete her house and move in
before long, told Sunday Vanguard that what had been done to her could
be likened to a rape and robbery.
Another disappointed allottee, Fashade Lola, complained that her
building, nearing completion, was pulled down by the bulldozers sent in
by the former minister of lands and her officials.
In a strongly-worded petition to the Minister of Works, Housing and
Power, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, the complainants asked him to urgently
intervene and recover their land for them.
They accused the former minister of taking their allocations and giving
them to politicians.
They said: “We had fully paid for these plots and were duly issued with
relevant titles deeds including the certificate of occupancy and many of
the allottees had moved to their plots and started some preliminary
construction work at their own pace.
“Work was still in progress when the former Minister of Lands, Housing
and Urban Development directed us sometime in 2014 to come forward for
what they called “VERIFICATION OF TITLES” and we all appeared with our
title deeds and were duly verified and ascertained as the bonafide
allottees.
“Surprisingly, we later got to know that the then Minister of Lands,
Housing and Urban Development had confiscated the entire plots under the
National Site and Services Scheme in Gwagwalada and converted it to a
strange and illegal so-called ‘Public Private Partnership Mass Housing
Scheme’ without the knowledge and involvement of the allottees. As if
that is not provocative enough, agents of the former Minister moved into
our already developed plots and bulldozed the structures on ground to
give way for their illegality.
“Our plots were never revoked but illegally encroached upon and
confiscated by the former minister and her agents. They have commenced
development on the land, destroying existing structures on and have
bringing untold hardship on us the valid owners of the plots.
Turning to Fashola, they stranded allotteess said: “We know you are a
man of unquestionable pedigree with zero tolerance for impunity,
injustice and flagrant abuse of the right of Nigerian citizens under any
guise such as has been meted out on us by your predecessors in office.
“We write this letter in protest to draw your attention to our plight
and the injustice we and thousands of other Nigerians who are
beneficiaries of this scheme have suffered in the hands of the past
administration. Our cursory investigation shows that our plots were
illegally seized and allocated to political cronies at the expense of
the real allottees with valid titles.
“We aware of your antecedents as the Executive Governor in Lagos State
for eight years and we strongly believe that you are still the same
incorruptible, fearless and God-fearing BRF who cannot stand by and
watch this happen to helpless Nigerians.
“We plead with you today to kindly step in and restore our plots to us
in the interest of justice, equity and fair play which are the hallmark
of this administration,” the allottees pleaded with the minister.
However, when contacted on the development, the immediate past Minister
for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi, said she
did not do anything personal on the said land and that whatever might
have happened there was done in the national interest.
Eyakenyi told Vanguard that she could not have taken anybody’s land and
converted to her personal use given her desire to make more houses
available to Nigerians when she was at the ministry.
“I could not have done anything against my oath of office and there was
no way I could have taken a decision against the overall national
interest,” she said.
But as the dire situation confronts the poor land allottees, clipping
their hopes in the balance, fear, anxiety and desperation have enveloped
their troubled lives. And all they ask is: “Can Fashola remove this
burdensome nightmare from their necks and make them smile once again?”.
Attached, are pictures of the bulldozers clearing the land with property
of the original owners for the PPP Massing Housing Scheme.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/2000-indigent-fg-land-allottees-in-gwagwalada-swindled-by-officials/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/2000-indigent-fg-land-allottees-in-gwagwalada-swindled-by-officials/
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