Demolition: Victims raise alarm over ‘unlawful sale of Abuja estate land’

Victims of a demolished estate in the Sabon-Lugbe area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, have raised an alarm over alleged planned sale of the demolished property.

The victims alleged that the land has been put for sale in the sum of N30 billion.

The victims who spoke on Tuesday in Abuja, while speaking with Judiciary Correspondents, warned Nigerians against the purchase of the said property, saying it remains subject of litigation at a High Court of the FCT.

The victims lawyer, Mr Kalu Agu Kalu, who presented some documents affirming lawful allocation of the land to them warned that anybody or group who buys the land would be doing so in breach of the law and at his or her own expense.

They insisted that the land upon which their over N200 billion building were erected was allocated to them with due process of the law and upon payment of all the statutory fees.

Barrister Kalu said a private company name witheld with foreigners as directors was used to dispose of their land at N30 billion.

To ventilate their anger against the alleged injustice, the lawyer said his clients and the over 100 families already rendered homeless would soon embark on massive protest in designated areas in Abuja, to draw the attention of the presidency to their plight.

To ensure that the protest is peaceful, the lawyer said his clients have mandated him to write officially to the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of the Department of State Service (DSS) to ensure that the protest is not hijacked by hoodlums.

*As we have said earlier, the land is genuinely allocated to us, and we have all the necessary title documents released to us upon payment of statutory fees.

“Besides, we file a suit at the High Court of the FCT and against the FCT minister and two others and served processes of the suit on parties, yet the demolition was done despite the pendency of the case.

“Information at our disposable is that the authorities of the FCT has put the land for sale, we are hereby issuing warning that no Nigerian should buy the land or any portion of it as doing so would tantamount to wasting of resources.

“We hereby challenge the media to investigate our claims to the ownership of the land and come out with independent report”, Kalu said.

The lawyer restated his appeal to President Bola Tinubu to call the FCT minister to order, so that peace, social, and economic policies of government can flourish.

He assured that his client would not take laws into their hands in spite of the glaring injustice but would pursue their litigation to a just conclusion.

The lawyer reaffirmed that his clients have absolute confidence that the judiciary would, in the end, do justice to the injustice against them.