By Mashe Umaru Gwamna
The Village Head of Idu in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Chief Muhammad Makama has drawn the attention of FCT Minister, Muhammad Bello to what he described as illegal taking of their farmlands by some estate developers.
Makama made the disclosure while addressing journalists recently in Abuja .
He alleged that some estate developers have taken over his community’s farm land, without legal title of such land from the Minister of FCT.
He said “with tricks,they usually come to any land of their choice, deceive the villagers that the land was allocated to them by FCT Administration (FCTA).”
The Village Chief therefore informed that he was able to discover that some of their farmlands were illegally taken when he was invited to Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) recently to sign a letter over a particular farmland to enable the develooer get Certificate from the minister. The truth, according to him came out when he refused to sign the letter, as he knew nothing about it.
According to him “On Monday the 14th March, 2022, I received a call from FCDA demanding that I come with a recommendation letter of a land belonging to one estate developer.
Dissatisfied with the call, on Tuesday the 15th, I went to the FCDA to demand for explanation. I was told that I should bring a recommendation letter to enable the man who had one of our farmlands to get Certificate of Occupancy from the minister”.
“It was then that I discovered that the man came to vandalise our farmland without authorisation from the government. I refused giving any letter to anyone, as I know 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 Senior Secondary School (SSS), Hospital, Mosque, among others. And apart from that, I have already written to both private and public organisations for assistance toward building SSS. These organisations have shown willingness to assist us, if there is land for that. So I refused to give any letter on a transaction I know nothing about.”
He advised the minister to be investigating such acts by some developers, before they tarnish his good image.
He also advised other village chiefs to be careful in discharge of their duties while protecting the interest of their subjects and that of the government.
