Victims of the demolished N3 billion 500-unit Minanuel Estate on Airport Road will tomorrow take their case to the National Assembly to protest the exercise that has brought hardship to many who also lost money running into billions which they paid for the houses.???
Joining in the protest march are civil society organisations, religious and cultural groups who perceive the development as negating government’s policy of easing the housing problems of Abuja residents.
A source close to the victims told LEADERSHIP, yesterday, in Abuja that the houses were due for handover by the end of this month.
Development Control Unit of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) had on Saturday, September 29, rolled out its bulldozers and demolished all the 500 houses valued at over N3billion, an action that was said to have been carried out without any notice to the developer.
Investigations by our correspondent further revealed that the developer, Minanuel Investment Ltd, acquired the land for the estate from Messrs N.C.R and Associates in 2004 after which it applied for relevant approvals which according to the officials of the company were duly granted.
The planned protest is, however, coming amid speculations that the FCDA might have carried out the demolition to please some members of the National Assembly who had been told that the area the estate was located had been allocated to them.
A news item in a popular Radio station in the FCT had, on Friday September 28, 2012, reported that the Chairman, Senate Committee on FCT, Senator Smart Adeyemi, had, while visiting victims of the Mpape demolition, claimed that the Goza District Lugbe extension 1 was allocated to federal lawmakers and other categories of Nigerians.
A source close to Minanuel Investment Ltd disclosed that upon hearing the Radio report, the company’s officials reached out to Senator Adeyemi and had a meeting with him.
The meeting was said to have agreed that the developer return on October 2, 2012 with the title and other relevant documents to prove his case and have the matter resolved amicably.?
But to the surprise of the developer, the demolition took place three days to the agreed date for the scheduled meeting.
Although Senator Adeyemi could not be reached on this matter as at the time of filing this report, the Senator was reported to have expressed dismay at? the FCDA’s haste in carrying out the demolition while a meeting scheduled to look into the issue was yet to hold.
Meanwhile, aggrieved investors of the demolished Minanuel Estate, at Lugbe Extension 1 in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have decried the demolition carried out by the Development Control Department of the FCT Administration, saying they were not give adequate notice before the demolition exercise.
In an exclusive chat with the Minanuel Investment Spokesman, Mr. Festus Adebayor , who described the exercise as a great injustice and disservice to both the investors and Nigeria at large, said it acquired the land legitimately, with all the relevant documents.
He said, “We set out and acquired Minanuel Estate in Abuja from Messrs N.C.R. & Associate in 2004 to assist the less privileged civil servants who cannot afford expensive houses in the FCT. The papers and other documents to support the development are valid, free from all encumbrances before and after the company took possession of the land.
So we were surprised when the development control department came with their bulldozer and demolished over 500 units of houses that the people have subscribed for, these houses are mainly civil servants who are struggling to have a house in FCT.”
In his reaction, the Director, Development Control Department, Mr. Yahaya Yusuf accused the developers of whipping up sentiments stressing that the department served all the necessary notices.
He said, “We have full documentation of stamped noticed that was served the developers with photo clips to back it up. We even made newspaper publication and jigles warning developers that there was no allocation for estate development after Lugbe but they refused to heed our warning.
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