Army tackles FCDA, construction company over choice plots of prominent citizens in Abuja

Landlord of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory Authority (FCTA) is presently contending with the Nigerian Army over the ownership of pieces of land allegedly allocated to prominent Nigerians, including former presidents and principal officers of the National Assembly.

Tension set in penultimate Friday, when the military sealed off the road leading to the 230 hectares Maitama Extension District and drove away workers of a construction company, Kakaatar Civil Engineering (KCE) Limited, citing security reasons.

When contacted, the Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCTA), Alhaji Adamu Ismaila, who said he did not want to be dragged into the face-off, directed The Guardian to approach the Army or Minister of the Federal Capital Territory for comments.

Ismaila disclosed on phone that the disagreement was between the construction firm and the Army, saying: “I don’t know anything about it, honestly speaking. I don’t know what went wrong between the Army and Kakaatar.”

Reminded that the Army is making claims to the plots around the area, the Executive Secretary added: “I have nothing to do with plots; go to the Minister, he will tell you about plots…he is the one responsible for plots, he will give you answer; or meet the Director of Lands, I don’t know anything about land administration.”

Army spokesman, Col. Sani Usman, had disclosed last week that “the property is on Nigerian Army’s land and the Army will not allow anybody to encroach on its land; consequently, the property has to be sealed to prevent further encroachment.”

However, a source within the Army confided in The Guardian the same day, that “unknown to many Abuja residents, the barrack is home to sensitive military hardware,” stressing that this was bound to happen “because we were not comfortable with locating a construction company close to us.”

An official of the FCTA disclosed that the Ministry and the Authority were studying the unfolding situation and was working at resolving it behind the scene before it blows out of control.

“The media should not escalate this because it is a sensitive issue; we will find a solution that will satisfy both the Army and all the aggrieved parties. It is both a political and security matter and it is not completely true that others have no access to their plots. Please crosscheck your information,” the top official said.

Meanwhile, some owners of plots along the stretch in the Maitama Extension have been complaining of being denied access to their plots, because of the action taken by the Army.