The village head of Idu of the host community of Idu Industrial Area in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Muhammad Bawa Makama, has drawn the attention of FCT Minister, Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello, to what he described as illegal taking over of their farmlands by some estate developers.
Makama told journalists that some estate developers had taken over his community’s farmlands, without legal titles from the minister of FCT. He said come with tricks, by seizing the land of their choice, deceived the villagers that it was allocated to them by FCT Administration (FCTA).
The village chief said he discovered that some of their farmlands were illegally taken over when he was invited to Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) recently to sign a letter over particular farmland to enable the developer to get a certificate of occupancy from the minister. The truth, according to him, came out when he refused to sign the letter, as he knew nothing about it.
Makama said, “On Monday, 14th March 2022, I received a call from FCDA demanding that I come with a recommendation letter of land belonging to one estate developer. Dissatisfied with the call, on Tuesday, 15th March 2022, I went to the FCDA to demand an explanation. I was told that I should bring a recommendation letter to enable the man who had one of our farmlands to get a certificate of occupancy from the minister.
“It was then that I discovered that the man came to vandalize our farmland without authorization from the government. I refused to give any letter to anyone, as I knew nothing about the land and we reserved it as a place where our children will build their houses. We also need the land for the building of a Senior Secondary School (SSS), hospital, mosque, among others. And apart from that, I have already written to both private and public organizations for assistance toward building a school. These organizations have shown willingness to assist us, if there is land for that. So, I refused to give any letter on a transaction I knew nothing about,” he said.
