Wike to Abuja land grabbers: No amount of blackmail can stop me

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has vowed to stop any individual from taking land belonging to the government without approval.

Wike said this while handing over 50 operational vehicles to security agencies in Abuja on Thursday, December 12, 2024.

The minister, who decried the activities of land grabbers in the nation’s capital, said: “We will stop anybody who thinks he can obtain government land for whatever reason without formal approval.

“We will not look at your face. If you like, you can be a civil rights activist; If you like, you can be a television talker. What is wrong is wrong.

“No amount of blackmail can stop us.”

Wike’s aide, Lere Olayinka, had on Wednesday refuted allegations of land grabbing against the FCT Administration.

Olayinka in a statement said someone in a video being circulated on social media claimed that the FCTA grabbed land belonging to a construction company.

He stated that the land is located at Life Camp in Gwarinpa District, Cadastral Zone C02, Abuja.

He explained that a construction company, Paulosa Nigeria Limited, occupied the land as a temporary office, under a temporary R of O granted in 1984, about 40 years ago.

Olayinka challenged those circulating the “falsehood” about their lands being grabbed by the FCTA to provide Right of Occupancy (R of O) or Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) granted by the FCTA.

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Sharing this view, Wike said if the government gave a construction company a temporary site, the land does not automatically belong to the company after executing the project.

Wike added: “Show me the document that the land belongs to you.

“I am not the kind of person that you will scare by going on television, claiming that you have been living there for 20 years. So what? You are just a squatter.

“If your husband had a company who did a job for FCT and had a site to stay, that doesn’t make it your husband’s property; it doesn’t.”

The minister said he had published names of landowners in Abuja who were owing FCTA ground rent and other taxes.

Wike added that he would revoke the land of anybody who refuses to pay.

He said: “All those who have not paid, who thought we are joking, I am going to revoke all. So, if you are sitting here, go and check your records.

“If you have not paid, I will give you time to pay. But once the time expires, forget it, I will revoke it, and I will give it to those who will pay.”

The Star