Residents of ECOWAS Estate Katampe Extension in Abuja blocked the access road passing through their estate to other estates in line with the advised of the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello.
A statement by the chairman of the estate association, Dr Austin Maho, said the action was as a result of the insecurity, theft and other nuisances residents of ECOWAS Estate were daily subjected to.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja, the chairman said in August of 2021 after series of petitions over illegal land allocations within the estate and the creation of an access road to the perimeter of ECOWAS Estate, the minister undertook a working visit to the estate and saw things for himself.
Maho said: “He was able to establish that illegal allocations of land on green areas, children’s play ground and walkways were made within the estate and gave orders for their suspension.
“He also saw the illegal access leading through the estate to other estates. In the words of the minister, he said if a 55-hectare estate exists without proper access road it means it is an illegal estate.
“He said we should dig a trench to block access through our estate, we could have acted immediately but some of the management committee members felt this would be unfair, what we did was to serve them notices and placed a couple of banners in the two entrances to alert the developers of the impending action. We gave them three months.”
Dr Maho said being Nigerians apart from a few of them many treated the notices with levity. “One of them even questioned the authority of the minister to give such a directive saying it was just a political statement and if he means it he should have gone ahead and have it gazette.”
He stated that the minister came with all his directors including those of development control, land administration and AGIS, “they are all aware of the mess going on here and what the minister said.”
According to him, “we know they are violating the MoU they signed with the authorities. They are not adding any value. They are partitioning the land and selling to unsuspecting members of the public, making a kill for themselves and not interested in spending money to developing the road leading to their estate but turn an existing and gated estate into a thoroughfare.
“We urge them to do the right thing or else we may have no option but to also go to court to seek an injunction against these illegalities.”
