Controversy over plot of land in Nigeria’s seat of government is causing tension between a physically challenged person, a former minister of state for FCT and her Personal Assistant.
Specifically, a retiree of the Federal Capital Territory Development Authority (FCDA), Mr. Haasan Rabiu (amputee) has accused the former Minister of State for FCT, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu and her Personal Assistant, Mohammed Sani of attempting to hijack his plot of land.
Rabiu alleged that Dr. Ramatu is using her cronies in the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to hijack his plot of land.
In a chat with journalists in Abuja recently, Rabiu who is currently handicapped following a road traffic mishap decried plans by the former Minister and a relative who doubles as her Personal Assistant to illegally grab his land.
According to him the land which is covered by a statutory Right of Occupancy (R-of-O) issued by Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in 2001 has been a subject of controversy in recent times following what he described as antics of gangs and cartels in the Department of Planning and Development Control who specialise in forging new layouts and scheming out the original owners with fake papers.
Rabiu recalled before journalists that Personal Assistant to the Ex-Minister, Sani had approached him as a former staff of the FCDA with the intention of learning from him.
The PA, he added promised to help recover land which was taken over by the cartel at FCDA. But, In good faith, the original land documents were handed over to him.
He further revealed that the Minister was interested in the vision and mission for which the land would be used and wants to be part of the project when the plots of land will be recovered.
Accordingly, a 50/50 stake was agreed and a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to that effect in the hope that the Ex-Minister will help him recover his land and they’ll partner on the projects.
However, Rabiu alleged that shortly after the papers were handed over, the PA came back with a different story, claiming that Rabiu had lied and that he has no land in the said area.
Rabiu, also alleged that the MOU which was to be signed by the Ex-Minister after he had signed in the presence of his wife, Binta Rabiu was never returned for him to have a copy of his own.
He noted that instead of withdrawing from the MoU since according to them, Rabiu had no land in the said location, the PA in what seems like acting the Ex-Minister’s script resorted to writing petitions with the motive to blackmail and intimidate the land owner with bogus claims including financial commitments without any evidence to tender.
The aggrieved land owner noted that what was contained in the petitions were different from terms in the MoU.
The first petition was to then Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN). The Attorney General dismissed the petition for lack of evidence corroborating the claims as the petitioner had malicious intents including to publicly humiliate Rabiu and his wife by presenting them as common criminals with their pictures boldly pasted on the petition.
According to Rabiu, reprieve came his way when Modibo, a neighbour came to indicate interest to buy one of his land to be used by a government agency.
The agency wanted 12 hectares to build the housing estate for staff, he said.
Sequel to the aforementioned an investigative committee including the Director of Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS) and two others was constituted.
Rabiu claimed the investigative team found out that the land actually belongs to him Ministerial approval and was captured in the first satellite cadastral imagery of Abuja with servers domiciled with Julius Berger.
This, Rabiu pointed out puts the PA’s claims to disrepute and exposes their plan which was never to help at all but connive and usurp an innocent man’s land.
However, even with the investigation duly completed, only the first parcel of land with 37 hectares was approved by the Minister in May 2023, with R-of-O issued with new file number.
Subsequently, a letter of authority was written to the Minister of FCT for the release of 12 hectares of land to the agency with 11.4 hectares eventually released to the to it. Although the land is originally meant for the agency’s cooperative, the ₦700 million agreed with head of the agency has not been paid.
He further alleged that, the PA and his cronies again wrote another petition to the agency’s head claiming a breach of partnership. Their claim was to the effect that they paid they have paid Rabiu some money as part of the partnership. However, there are no receipts, bank statement and any agreement regarding any payments.
It would be recall that the MoU was entered into on the basis of recovery of stolen lands and a 50/50 stake in the legacy projects on the lands. There couldn’t have been any financial involvement without first recovering the land which the PA and the Ex-Minister of state for FCT could not do.
After failing to intimidate the agency’s head who reached out to Mr. Hassan and got the true story of their schemes and conspiracies, the PA again wrote another petition to the Committee that was set by the Minister that affirmed Rabiu’s ownership to the land, misleading the Director of AGIS and other committee members with the same distorted facts. Again no evidence were tendered except empty claims of having a stake in the land rather than the legacy projects that were covered in the MoU.
Almost one year after getting ministerial approval for the 37 hectares of land reclaimed by Rabiu, a court process as received. It is pertinent to point out that the issues mentioned in the MoU are different from those included in the petitions and also very different from those mentioned in the court process. It is also absurd to note that the PA and his cronies know nothing about the land including the number of hectares and other identifiers.
Again in the court process, two different companies were listed as complainants; SID-TRAC NIGERIA LIMITED and MAMSIDAI NIGERIA LIMITED, obviously belonging to the Ex-Minister of state for FCT and her PA. No such thing was mentioned in the MoU. It is even more ridiculous that the two companies are now claiming a 40% and 30% stake in the land contrary to the 50/50 percent stakes in the projects that was agreed upon if they are able to help in recovering the stolen lands.
Unfortunately for the cartel, the land they are trying to collect is not the one with the Ministerial approval. The PA allegedly bribed the FCDA gangs with money and they made a design for him which is included in the petitions, changing everything including the name of the original owner.
Attempts to get the PA on phone to explain his side of the story proved abortive. Similar calls to Mr. Awal also were met with excuses. It was only the former Attorney General and Minister of Justice that responded to calls and collaborated Rabiu’s story.
Several questions are therefore handy, is the former Minister of State for FCT and his brother cum PA willfully involved in extortion and blackmail with the aim of land grabbing? What are the basis of the claims they are making? Apart from the contradictory nature of the claims, the PA has produced an agreement which Rabiu knows nothing about. Is it not a case of forgery for the culprits to fabricate an agreement different from the MoU that was entered into with them, whose terms they breached ab initio. At what point were the two companies involved in the MoU and what was their commitment that earned them 40% and 30% respectively?
It is now in the public domain and Nigerians must rise up in defense of an innocent man whose only offence was to seek the return of his stolen property. With project designs and engineering works done, it is disheartening that a few corrupt elements hiding under their political influence and financial wherewithal would want to rob a man in broad daylight. This is a call to all well meaning Nigerians to rise up and fight tyranny, corruption and criminality.
In attempt to get reactions from ex-Minister of state for FCT Dr Ramatu Talijiani Aliu and his alleged PA, Mohammed Sani, Core Reporters put several calls across to Dr. Ramatu’s cell phone and a WhatsApp message for her own side of the story on her MTN line, but no response from her until the time of going to the press.
Also, Mr. Mohammed Sani (PA) in his response said, instead of crying for nothing, Mr Rabiu should honour his agreement with the company that helped him to recover his land or go to court, adding that any other kind of arm twisting tactics will backfire.
According to him, “We helped him at his lowest point, he chose to remain a fraud. But we won’t be cowed.”
Sani also claimed that the case is already in court and that the court already has some of the evidences, and will get more if he (Rabiu) attempts to deny.
“I’m only open to discussing with you because I’m under the impression you have merely been misled (and not that you are working for him). And I advise you, if Rabiu can attempt to swindle the people that helped him and collect land papers behind their backs without honoring his bond, then imagine what he can do to you when he no longer needs you.
“Every documentary and oral evidence is at our disposal. In fact there are so many others he has swindled and they are already on his case. You even know the irony, He has an agreement which he doesn’t want to honor,” Sani said.
