Residents in Apo Tafi on the Apo hills, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, have called on the federal government, the FCTA, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and other related agencies to intervene over the planned demolition of their houses and help apprehend fraudulent real estate agents and companies that illegally sold lands to them.
Following the development, Director, FCT Department of Development Control, Mr Mukhtar Galadima, on Friday urged citizens and Abuja residents to always go through proper and legal channels to purchase land in the FCT.
Speaking on Aso Radio TV on Friday during a programme that was monitored by our correspondent, Galadima said, “People who need or want to buy land in the FCT need to stop going through local chiefs and private entities who could defraud them. People need to do their research. In fact, buying land from local chiefs is not allowed, and it’s not a formal allocation. Residents and citizens need to go through the appropriate government quarters to buy or get lands.
“One of the aspirations of the founding fathers of Abuja was to provide a planned city that would provide equal opportunity for all citizens. Hence, any Nigerian citizen can come to Abuja and get a land. However, land can only be formally gotten in two ways in Abuja, and that’s either through formal allocation by the FCTA or by purchasing the land through the appropriate government authorities.
Meanwhile, the residents who protested on Thursday under the aegis of the Apo Hills Landlords and Residents Association, said the developers handling projects in the affected areas include Shelter Gold, BSTAN Homes, Crown Prince Estate, Four Model Estate, Green Pasture Homes, Eco City Estate, C.M.S Court, Iphee Estate, Palm Hill Estate, Spring Forth Estate, Alabaster Homes, Metropolitan Estate and Tobamat Estate.
