The House of Representatives ad-hoc committee investigating alleged land racketeering in the FCT has said its members are determined to do justice to their assignment and address the rot in land matters in the FCT.
Some top officials of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) are alleged to have manipulated security agencies to dupe unsuspecting Nigerians and hoodwink them into buying unapproved land in the FCT.
Also, the FCT authorities are said to be insensitive to the plight of the indigenous Gbagi population who surrendered their lands in the interest of national unity but denied their dues for the past 37 years.
The two victims, however, became jubilant and expressed optimism that justice would come their way as Bimbo Daramola, Chairman of the House Committee was emphatic on the determination of the panel to get to the root of the matter.
The Committee made the pronouncement in view of the complaints of 854 Gbagi communities over years of injustice and 186 people to the Committee on how several structures in Goza Estate and elsewhere were pulled down by the FCT authorities in the pretext of invalid documents and allocation of land for the Centenary Village.
In a presentation by the association of the allotees, Abuneme Okeke said the public was deliberately misled by the said officer because the transactions were conducted within the premises of the Gudu Office of the NSCDC.
He said: ”The Principal Officer’s office is inside the Civil Defence Office in Gudu and everybody that has to do with the transaction are always wearing Civil Defence uniform. We are talking of inside the Civil Defence office, not outside, not even outside fence but right inside.
“Apart from that, the receipt we were issued with after payment to an account name Danemy Nigerian Limited 32223405192110 has Civil Defence logo and coat of arm on it. We are not illiterates.
“So, we ask questions and the principal officer showed us approvals from Development Control Department of the FCDA. We even had to pay for the fencing of the Goza Estate which was not supposed to be so. People were buying this land which was not cheap at between N800,000 and N1.2m because everybody believed that if it was coming from an institution of government, it must be genuine.”
He, however, said trouble started when FCDA arrived at the estate and marked some structures for demolition, saying that the allotees would be compensated before the demolition.
“They said the estate has been marked for the Centenary Village. We are not against that but the FCDA came and pulled down our houses without compensating us contrary to what we were told and in spite of several representations we made to the FCDA,” he added.
Another petitioner, Ishaya Boyo who was more familiar with the Danemy said several family members and associates of his bought land from Danemy on the basis of his status in Civil Defence and relationship with his own wife.
“Right now, my family is in disarray because everybody is accusing me of duping them just because I introduced them to the Danemy who was alleged to have fled the country. I was convicted because my wife works with Civil Defence. So, we never suspected any foul play,” he said.
Ola Faleke, another allotee said Danemy was no longer accessible.
On the other hand, the Committee could not help the 854 indigenous communities of Gbagi that have not been paid their compensation for the land taken away from them by the Federal Government 37 years ago.
According to the counsel to the Galadimawa community, Musa Panya, the community applied for allocation of 76 hectares of their ancestral land and cemetery but they were denied of the application.
Ironically, a former governor was allocated 101 hectares of land covering five villages in Kwali District. The Committee was shocked when told that the said governor has commenced compensation exercise, with ejection to follow. The grouse of the Gbagi people was the non-justification of taking away their lands through land swap scheme by FCDA with no regard to the feelings of the original owners.
The Galadimawa community said it was no longer interested in the issue of compensation but that the government should consider reintegration instead. According to Panya, the protest to the Committee was about the allocation of their ancestral home and farmland to five private developers by FCDA.
“Besides, the government cannot pay the N2.8b compensation bill computed in 1975 when added to the interest that would have accrued to it till date,” he said. According to him, though government claimed to have partially compensated some of the communities, Panya asserted that it amounted to nothing as the constitution does not recognise partial compensation.
He cited one Alhaji Yahaya on whose land Transcorp Hilton Hotel is standing today but awarded N20.00??? by the government. ”What we are seeking for is re-integration since the government can’t afford to compensate us or resettle us where we came from. Abuja died on February 13, 1976 with Gen. Murtala Mohammed because the vision for Abuja died with him because those that succeeded him did not follow his vision.
“Obasanjo tried because he set up a body to cost the compensation and they came up with N2.8b which the government cannot afford. That is why they resorted to re-integration. Now, they even have to deploy hired soldiers to accompany their demolition squad; armed soldiers against harmless, peaceful people. It’s the height of injustice.”
Panya said the community is demanding that the land swap arrangement be revisited because the arrangement was such that 60 per cent of the deal goes to the developer to do whatever it feels with the land while the 40 per cent left belongs to the FCDA. The interest of the indigenous community was not part of the deal. He said the FCT has been divided into 21 districts and that the land swap arrangement has been concluded on 10 of the districts.
“Each of the developers has paid N350m to the FCDA as commitment fees. We are a peace-loving people but Abuja is a ticking time-bomb as of now. The current land swap arrangement is not agreeable to us. What we want is 30 per cent for the indigenous communities?” he said.
The Committee assured the Gbagi communities in Kwali District and Galadimawa in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) of justice after due investigation.
Chairman of the committee, Daramola questioned the propriety of the activities of the FCT authorities on land matters regarding the indigenous people, saying: “Are we saying that while the Galadimawa community applied to the FCDA for 76 hectares of their ancestral home land and refused, the same FCDA saw no problem allocating 101 hectares to one single individual?
“Certainly, there are questions to answer. We are also desirous of finding out about the Land Allocation Advisory Committee in the FCT which we are told has been non-existent since 2000.
“We would want the Minister of the FCT to update us on it because its non- existence would be a violation of the Land Use Act. This and other questions are there for the minister to come and clear and his continued absence would not be in the interest of the country; because Abuja is supposed to be for every Nigerian,” he said.
With these revelations, the Committee summoned the Commandant-General of the NSCDC, Olu Abolurin and the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Ekpo Nta to shed light on their roles in the matter.
The ICPC boss was invited when the D-G of the Civil Defence, Olu Abolurin said those suspected of engaging in the land scam have been referred to the anti-graft agency.
The ICPC boss, Ekpo Nta shocked the Committee when he said 61 properties were seized from one top official of the security agency, adding that Danemy Nigeria Limited was not part of those being investigated so far.
“The agency embarked on the investigation following a formal complaint from the Commandant-General of the NSDC, Dr Ade Abolurin who personally visited me on May 15 this year. He said that some of the officials of the Corps were involved in selling lands illegally to unsuspecting members of the public in the name of NSCDC under a non-existent Housing Estate Scheme in Abuja and Nasarawa State.
“He demanded full investigation into the scam with a view to getting to the root of the matter. I was impressed by the action of the Commandant-General for reporting his own officials for alleged wrong doings and demanding an independent investigation while other heads of agencies or organisations will be covering up if they were involved.
“I commenced an immediate investigation by directing the Special Squad I set up on land matters to swing into action and the team even started with some officers who the D-G came with.
“We made findings; we made efforts to get additional information from other government agencies and banks which assisted us immensely in the course of our investigations.
“In the course of the investigation, we established that six different companies were used in the scam. We froze the bank accounts of certain officers and the companies used. We seized several properties; including 61 houses, 45 plots of land and a duplex traced to some of the officers. Interestingly, the 61 houses made up of 40 units of three bedroom flats, 20 units of two bedroom flats and a duplex were seized from a single officer.” He said.
He, however, promised to commence investigation on Danemy Nigeria Limited immediately, even as he disclosed that those interrogated have been released except one that has absconded. He also said compensation of the 186 victims was beyond ICPC.
“That is beyond our power. The final decision rests on the court. Ours is to arrest, investigate and prosecute; but as we speak, we have established abuse of office against some of the officers investigated. It is the court that will now decide their fate. The law recognises the interest of procurer,” he said.
The FCT Minister, Bala Mohammed is expected to appear before the Committee next week.
