Quit buying land from FCT native chiefs – FCTA warns residents

By Stanley Onyekwere

The FCT Administration has admonished residents to stop buying land from native chiefs, as the ongoing demolition affects only land sold by unauthorised persons.

This caution is as the FCTA assured that no Abuja indigenous community will be displaced from its original place until full resettlement is implemented by the government.

According to the Chairman, FCT Ministerial Taskforce on City Sanitation, Ikharo Attah, made this assertion during a recent engagement meeting with the chiefs and some key stakeholders within the indigenous community of Iddo Sarki, in Abuja.

He said: “The Abuja original inhabitants have been very peaceful, and the administration really commend them for that.

“In all that we have done, we have not sacked any indigenous community and certainly, we will not sack any without full resettlement, but we are hoping that the community will actually enjoy the breath of fresh air. Enjoy the best they could having given their lands for Abuja to be developed.

“That’s why I keep telling people not to buy land from local chiefs because when the FCTA commences integration, you will discover that the people who are the indigenes will be the ones who will get the policy and enjoy the new homes while others who bought from them will leave.

“Go to Iddo Sarki, you will get the shock of your life, all the lands we have reclaimed are been turned to farmland by indigenous and those who bought from them are already reading the book of lamentation.

We are hoping that we will still engage once more before we return back to that place for demolition.”

Also, the Director of Security Services, Adamu Gwary, said the engagement will be a continuous exercise that all the communities that would be affected must go participate.

He said that in all the affected communities,  traditional leaders, youth leaders and the groups will be engaged, just as he warned mischief makers against misinterpreting the intent of the government.

“Now that we have this interface, when we are going back with the development control, we will understand the entire environment and what falls within the spheres that are considered indigenous that are part and parcel that we can concede and those that we know is an outright infraction and abrasion of the city planning.”

On his part, the District Head of Gui, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Alhaji Hassan Yusuf, commended the FCTA for taking steps to engage the stakeholders on the need to sanitise the city in line with the Abuja masterplan.

He promised the full commitment of the Abuja natives to the ongoing cleanup to restore sanity in the Abuja communities.

“I don’t have anything to say than to thank you for honouring my request to stop demolition until we have a roundtable discussion.

“You have given us enough time to go back and sanitise our community and we will not fail you. Before our second meeting, you will hear a positive result.

“The remaining part of the community has been touched already, so I cannot say he should not come back. If I say that I’m abusing myself. I cannot stop demolition but let it be done in a sensible way”, Yusuf said.