A senior official of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) allegedly deployed two buses of armed security officials to demolish a property in Abuja despite a pending court case concerning the land, injuring the owner, a pregnant woman, in the process.

The security personnel, accompanied by some FHA staff, reportedly arrived at the site in two Coaster buses on Friday around noon and allegedly physically assaulted the lady owner of the property, who is pregnant, dragging her on the ground when she attempted to stop them from demolishing the property.

The property is located along 5th Avenue, 52 Road, Gwarinpa II Estate, Abuja, and belongs to Tolwu Integrated Properties Ltd.

Hajiya Sadiya, the owner of the property, told journalists that she was beaten, dragged on the ground and wounded in one of her arms by the armed officers deployed to destroy the fence on the property despite a pending case before the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Bwari, Abuja.

“The FHA team came to the site to destroy our fences without any court order or any other official document. When they came to the site, I rushed there with my lawyer. We asked the officers to show any enforcement documents or court papers. They didn’t show anything,” she said.

She added that, upon arrival, she informed the FHA team that the case was in court. “I even pleaded with them for us to go to the nearest police station, but they refused,” she said.

The landowner said that when they tried to move a bulldozer onto the site, she attempted to stop them. The leader of the team allegedly directed four armed officers to wrestle her to the ground. “Four men grabbed me, removed my headgear, wrestled me to the ground and tear-gassed me,” she said.

She added that when her husband tried to intervene, he was arrested and taken to Gwarinpa Police Station.

Hajiya Sadiya said she purchased the land from Savannah Suites in 2012 and obtained a Letter of Consent from the FHA in 2013 after clearing arrears of N13.5 million. In 2021, she applied for a change of purpose of the land, which was approved by the FHA in 2023. In 2025, she applied for a Development Plan, which was approved by all relevant FHA departments after submission of architectural, structural, engineering and electrical designs.

She said she has been paying ground rent and all other official expenses on the land since 2012 without defaulting.

The dispute began after portions of the Gwarinpa land were reportedly allocated to another entity. Hajiya Sadiya approached the FCT High Court in Abuja, and on 1 July 2025, the court, in suit number FCT/HC/B/CV/227/2025, ordered the parties to maintain status quo pending the hearing of the substantive suit.

Official records indicate that the court heard the case on 22 October and adjourned to 25 January 2026 for further hearing.

On 7 July, a group of FHA employees and stakeholders submitted a petition calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Minister of Housing and Urban Development to investigate the FHA over alleged misconduct and mismanagement.

When contacted on Sunday, the Head of Public Relations of the FHA, Mr Kenneth Chigelu, said the case involved land ownership issues, adding that documents exist to substantiate the legal entitlement.

Chigelu stated that the lady has already been given the portion of land to which she is legally entitled.