The Management of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) says it is not responsible for the planned demolition of Zhidu community near Lugbe Phase II, Abuja.
Mr Kenneth Chigelu, the Head, Press and Publicity Unit, FHA, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.
According to him, “The authority wants to correct the wrong impression created by some land grabbers, who have consistently misled some innocent Nigerians by extorting money from them through the sale of government land.
“Federal Housing Authority acquired a parcel of land from the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) for housing development and went on to carry out enumeration exercise and subsequently paid compensation to the farmers.
“In the course of carrying out pre – developmental exercises, it was discovered that some squatters have encroached on some portions of the land belonging to the authority.
“To complicate the matter, the illegal development happens to be at the right of way of the Ring Road three that services the entire area.
“Consequently, eight months ago, FHA and FCDA embarked on the identification of all the developments that fell within FHA’S land and the Ring road three (for removal) to pave the way for the development of the land.
Chigelu said the authority had called on all persons laying genuine claims to the land to come forward with proof of ownership and approval to build, for documentation.
“It is, therefore, surprising that some persons would come up with outlandish claims that the Federal Housing Authority is planning to demolish the entire Zhidu community, giving them only two weeks’ notice.
“The authority would not be distracted or deterred by the ambush tactics of the acclaimed leaders of the community, FHA would never accommodate any slum development within any of its estates.
“We reiterate that persons with genuine claims to any portion of land in the said community that fell within FHA’s parcel of land should come forward with all relevant documents and approval to develop for documentation,” he said.
