Over 3,000 FCT land owners seek court injunction on disputed land in Dei-dei

Landowners at Zaudan Pazeri and Filindabo layouts under the auspices of Zaudan Pazeri Property Owners Association in the Dei-Dei area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have filed an injunction at the FCT High Court 42 sitting at Kubwa seeking to restrain any activities on their plots of land pending the determination of the matter in court.

The chairman of the association, Elder Friday Ugoala, who made this known on behalf of other affected landowners, after filing for the injunction, explained the trauma the allottees have been going through since the land issue started in 2013.

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He said despite the complexity of the court case, the affected allottees still have faith that the FCT minister, Mallam Muhammad Bello, will not spend scarce resources to defend the illegality meted out to them if duly informed of the circumstances surrounding the case.

“We have been reluctant to file the injunction all this while, but three different activities are presently going on in the land while the case is still in court.

“The land swap activities which the FCT minister commissioned have commenced on the land. Secondly, the natives are selling our plots, and also the mass housing developers are selling their plots to other buyers.

“We can no longer fold our hands, but file an injunction restraining every activity in the land until the determination of the matter in court.

“The motion would be ruled on November 9.

“We are still appealing to the minister to come to our rescue because we believe in him. We know that once he is rightly informed, this matter will not go further,” he said.

According to Ugoala, the layouts passed due process. It was the minister’s office that contracted surveyors and town planners to map out the plots for them, he said, adding that when they were offered the plots, they paid and were given receipts.

“So, if the minister had been given this information, by now we would have been developing our plots. As it is presently, Development Control has refused to approve building plans for our members who have their own plans.

“Rather, only for our plots to be reallocated to mass housing developers and land swap projects. The truth is that it is wrong to build on another person’s roof. So, we are appealing to the minister to do justice and hear our cries,” he said.