FCT sets up C’ttees on Land Use violations, River Park controversy

By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA: The Federal Capital Territory Administration FCTA has set up a ‘committee on the review of land uses/purpose clauses of land and properties at locations overtaken by commercial and other activities’.

FCT minister, Nyesom Wike named the Director, Development Control as  Chairman. Members are the Director, Land Administration; Director, Surveying and Mapping; Director, Abuja Geographic Information Systems AGIS; Director, Engineering Services; and, Director, Urban and Regional Planning who will serve as Secretary.

Wike told the committee to identify areas where there are gross violations of the Land Use Act and make appropriate recommendations.

He listed some of the areas to include the Central Business District, Maitama, Asokoro and Garki.

The minister also sept up another committee on the review of issues bedevilling River Park Estate.

Members of the committee are FCT’s General Counsel/Secretary Legal Service Secretariat (Chairman); Senior Special Assistant to the Minister on Lands, Urban and Regional Planning; Deputy Director, Lands; Director Security; Director Development Control; and the Director, AGIS. The Legal Services Secretariat will provide a secretary for the committee.

The crisis surrounding River Park Estate is a complex legal and corporate dispute involving allegations of fraud, forgery, and land grabbing.

At the core of the crisis are allegations that three Ghanaian nationals and a Nigerian accomplice used forged documents and falsified signatures to unlawfully take control of JonahCapital Nigeria Limited and its assets, which include significant interests in River Park Estate.

The crisis also involves a contested ownership claim over portions of the estate. JonahCapital Nigeria Limited, the company at the centre of the fraud allegations, is also in a separate dispute with other parties, including Dunamis International Church, which is accused of unlawfully taking possession of parts of the estate for a parking lot. The church, however, maintains that it occupies land lawfully allocated to it.

The Nigeria Police Force has been actively involved in the case, investigating the corporate fraud allegations and filing criminal charges against the accused individuals.

However, the police have also been accused of harassment and intimidation by the Ghanaian businessmen, who have in turn filed lawsuits against the police and other government agencies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for alleged fundamental rights violations.

As a result of the various lawsuits, a Federal Capital Territory FCT High Court has ordered all parties to maintain the “status quo” pending the final determination of the substantive suits.

The order aims to prevent any further actions that could alter the subject matter of the dispute, such as processing key land documents like the Right of Occupancy (R of O) and Certificate of Occupancy (C of O).

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