Eze Innocent Okpara, the Developer and Manager of an estate under construction, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu regarding the demolition of a property valued at N3 billion in Maitama Hills, Mpape, Bwari Area Council, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja yesterday, Okpara highlighted that the land in question was already the subject of a court case, expressing surprise at the FCT administration’s decision to proceed with the demolition without awaiting the court’s verdict.
He said: “This is our estate, we started developing it around 2019 and already the structures on ground were 3 units completed and 4 units decked, we have 3 units that we are still decking and then the DpC for the plaza completed.
“I am surprised that the structure is in being demolished.
“It is Woodcrest Estate and they have refused us entrance. We wanted to see what they were actually doing but they wouldn’t allow us to see what is happening but from what I am seeing from here the structure we completed is on ground.
“They have demolished it, the carcasses everything is down and they will not allow us to remove anything. We have household materials we have chairs inside one of the unit.
“The estate is 11000square meters in Mpape 2, maitama hills. There was a court case before this demolition.
“They came to mark the structure sometimes back, we refered them to our Lawyer that whatever they needed are pasted on the wall and the case is still on and to our greatest surprise they are coming for demolition today.”
On who instituted the case, the Manager said, “One Majin. He is in contention with my boss over the land.
Also, Tony Ogbulafor, the Counsel for the Developer, called on the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) to intervene and urge FCT Minister Nyesom Wike to adhere to legal protocols. Ogbulafor emphasized that the case is currently in court, with the last adjournment scheduled for May 15, 2024, due to the claimant’s absence on November 15, 2023.
He referenced a ruling by Hon. Justice A.S. Adepoju of Court No.13, Gwagwalada Judicial Division, on October 18, 2023, which ordered that the status quo be maintained.
“We pasted the approval of the building plan on the wall, for them to see that something like that is there. “I am the Lawyer to the owners of the estate.
“I got a call from the Managing director of Toub Associate, it was alleged that some demolition was going on and he called me to the estate to see what was going on.
“On getting here policemen and NSCDC men over 100 blocked us from entry saying they are a joint tax force they don’t allow anybody to come close that we can only come in when the demolition is completed. Because they are wielding gun we have to pipe low.
“One Majin Nigeria Limited took Toub associates, the minister of FCT and FG to court alleging ownership of the land and we are in court, the court ordered that nobody should do anything on the land until the case is determined before we got this morning.
“Along the line we have provided all the documents for the land, the allocation letters and everything to show the ownership of the land. And that has not been controverted even by Majin.”
He added that, “base on the order of the Court which said we should not do anything that is why we stopped if not we would have completed the estate but the court order said we should stop, pending the determination of the matter and we were holding action.
“We only have staff who are overseeing the things that are there, they are not doing any development. Some have been developed, others are under development.
“We expected the minister, FCDA and Majin to obey the order, I can not say Majin is involved because the police said it is Minister that sent them.”
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