Land Grabbing: Wike Accuses Civil Servants Of ‘Dirty Deals’ In FCTA

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT – Federal Capital Territory Minister (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has accused some officials of conniving with land grabbers on ‘dirty deals’ that continue to work against the Federal Government on land allocation issues in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

The Minister is angry that over the years some of those parading as investors, with the active connivance of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA)’s Legal and Land Secretariat, have perpetrated fraud through purchasing hectares of land only to embark on reselling such plots to Abuja residents at exorbitant prices.

Wike, who spoke while briefing a select group of journalists in his office, was reacting to the allegations by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the SNECOU Group Limited, Chief Nicholas Ukachukwu, that he wanted to deal with Igbo people.

He mentioned that there were so many such cases on his desk, noting that contentious land issues are festering and thriving simply because some corrupt civil servants have been aiding and abetting the so-called property investors who have unfortunately turned out to be sophisticated “land grabbers”.

The Minister slammed the self-acclaimed ‘investors’ for defrauding innocent people as well as the government by buying huge parcels of land only to resell them to residents after having informed the government that such lands were meant for investment purposes.

Hear him; “They are conniving with the Legal Secretariat here. Do you know we can sack them? Sack the Land Administrator? Have you seen the court judgment? Go and read the court judgment and see whether the court says the land is their own.

“They went to the court to say; tell FCTA to return our documents they are holding. I met these matters here. There were over 1000 cases on land. 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!”

Also claiming that there is a conspiracy theory on how certain court judgments are delivered, the FCT Minister said; “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.

“You see these guys (some officials in FCTA) are conniving with the plaintiff against the FCTA. I’ve never seen people who are so fraudulent like this! What they do here. They sued you, they sued me as FCT minister. They have court judgments in their pocket. I told him you are wasting time. His brother sent me a text message. I have never met his brother but he sent me a message saying, ‘You told your Ikwerre brothers you will deal with Igbos in FCT’. Imagine such.”

“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 the Igbo? What kind of a crazy, childish sentiment is that?

Offering further insight into the FCT’s position on the issue, Wike, who described Ukachukwu as an “ethnic jingoist”, the Minister said; “This land that this so-called ethnic jingoist talked about was allocated when there was no Minister. The Minister left on May 29, 2023. By June, the land was allocated by the director of lands.

“We all met and agreed that nobody should do anything on the land until we were able to make a final decision. Do you know what happened? These guys thought they were too smart and they started selling the land.”

“You see these guys (some officials in FCTA) are conniving with the plaintiff against the FCTA. I’ve never seen people who are so fraudulent like this! What they do here. They sued you, they sued me as FCT minister.

“They have court judgments in their pocket. I told him you are wasting time. His brother sent me a text message. I have never met his brother but he sent me a message saying, ‘You told your Ikwerre brothers you will deal with Igbos in FCT’. Imagine such.”

Forefront News notes that SNECOU Group Limited’s Chief Executive had accused the FCT Minister of arbitrarily ordering the demolition of investment on about 214 hectares of land in the Asokoro district of the FCT, insisting that the order was without any legal backing from the court.

According to Ukachukwu, Wike was abusing his office because the action, which is without due process, comes against the backdrop of two valid court orders from separate courts restraining him and the FCT administration from tampering with the property.

Speaking with the channel, the Anambra-born businessman pleaded with President Bola Tinubu to intervene and save the multi-million-naira invested in the property, claiming that the property was demolished because it was owned by an Igbo man, and not because the company violated any law.

Maintaining that all legal titles had been sorted and obtained before commencing development on the contentious land, Chief Ukachukwu alleged that Wike shouted; “How will they take all this land and give it to an Igbo man,” before his property was later demolished.