The Federal Capital Development Authority has issued the owner of an estate in Life Camp, Abuja demolition notice......Read The Full Article>>.....Read The Full Article>>
The estate was initially a residence for the workers of a construction company owned by the late Col. Paul Osa Ogbebor, Paullosa Nigeria Limited.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday in Abuja, the General Manager, Paullosa Estate Limited, Mr. Vincent Enoghase said, the FCDA has issued a demolition notice to the management after meeting some of its demands.
Enoghase also denied the claim by the FCDA that there are dilapidated buildings in the estate that need to be pulled down.
He said, “The FCDA said we should vacate or get our R of O. We started the process of getting the R of O. We have given them the N10 million deposit they demanded. We were willing to pay all that they asked us to pay.
“The next thing we were getting was that the system was not working. We were asked to hold on. They said we needed to carry out another survey. Now the FCT Development Control is telling us to quit and that they want to pull down the place. They sent us the papers last week.
“We quickly went to court and we got an order restraining them from doing anything. This morning the FCT Development Control sent another letter, giving us 24 hours to vacate the place for demolition.
“We are told that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike gave the order but we do not believe that story. He will not do that to a retired soldier who fought to ensure that Abuja is what it is today. We believe that somebody somewhere is doing funny things to take over the place. Right now, we are ready to pay whatever is outstanding. We have not been given the opportunity to pay.
“Another story we are getting again is that they have allocated that place to somebody else. They have given the person C of O and R of O within two to three weeks. This is a place we have been staying since 1984. That is 42 years.
“The story we are hearing is that we have dilapidated buildings. That is not correct. We do not know who is sponsoring this. We want to believe that it is the minister that is doing it.”
On his part, the son of the late Colonel, Ikponmwosa Ogbebor maintained that the estate situated on 2.5 hectares of land has not violated any law that would warrant demolition and reallocation to another company.
He said, “The property in question has been in our possession for the past 42 years. My father’s company constructed the underground sewage system in Abuja in the eighties. He is part and parcel of the creation of Abuja. We have had tenants living in that property for over 30 years 80 % are expatriates. They call it home. It is appalling that on November 22, we received a quit notice as the first means of communication from the government to us. And that prompted us to write to the FCT requesting an explanation for the quit notice on November 26. Around 7:00 a.m. the next morning, we saw a revocation notice pasted on the wall.
“The actual size of that property is 2.5 hectares. My father was processing the papers until he passed on in 2020. After that, we started processing it. Last year, we got an offer letter of Right of Occupancy, because we were given temporary Right of Occupancy just like other construction companies.
“Now converting them to residential areas, we had to seek Right of Occupancy, which we started the process last year. In the offer letter, we were asked I pay N43 million, of which N10 million was paid through remitta. After paying the money, we were told that they could not find the plot number on the systems, so we needed to carry out another verification exercise again. They also told us that we need to get the property surveyed again. All we have been hearing since then is that the application is on the minister’s table awaiting approval.”
The duo also stated that their investigation revealed that the Estate valued at N3.5 billion has been reallocated to a company, Saravara Nig. Limited, which has Hon. Kingsley Chinda as Director.
As of the time of filing this report, the FCDA management has yet to respond to the issue.
