Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike has said he would not be moved by sentiments or blackmail in his bid to sanction property owners who have refused to pay their ground rents despite several notices served on them.
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This was as he warned construction companies in the territory against land grabbing, saying the fact that they are given lands to house their equipment does not automatically confer on them ownership.
The minister stated this on Thursday in Abuja when he gave out 50 Hilux vehicles to security agencies in the territory.
Wike, who had a few months ago distributed another set of 50 Hilux vehicles to security agencies in the territory, said his administration is currently building 12 police divisions across the six area councils.
According to him, the police divisions would be completed by April next year and handed over to the Federal Capital Territory FCT Command of the Nigeria Police Force.
He said, “The Commissioner of Police requested additional police divisions, and as I speak to you now, we are building 12 police divisions across the six Area Councils. They are ongoing, and by the grace of God, before April next year we believe those police divisions will have been finished and furnished, and then we have them over to the CP. This is to enhance security in those areas. Emphasis will not be on one area. Emphasis will be on the satellite towns, rural areas, and the city. Everywhere is important to us.”
The minister also warned against blackmail by residents who might have flouted the laws, saying he won’t succumb to them.
Reacting to the controversy that has trailed his decision to revoke a plot of land in which Niger Delta activist Chief Rita Lori Ogbebor has an interest, the minister said those who are laying claims to lands that have been revoked should produce documents to back their claims.
“Let me use this opportunity to tell Nigerians and residents of Abuja we are not afraid of blackmail. In fact, you cannot be in this type of position and expect not to be blackmailed, particularly as regards this Abuja. Some of us have come to put our foot down.
We will stop anybody who thinks that they can obtain government land 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. People take government property without approval, without documents, and I have told people that there was a government yesterday; the government did not take any step. It does not mean that another government will come today and will not take any steps. Or even if this government does not, tomorrow another government will come that may take a step. That you did something 15 years ago does not mean it is right. It does not mean it is right.
“The mere fact that nobody tried to tell you it is not right does not make it right. You cannot use blackmail to get something from the government. You can’t. You cannot. Recently, we told Julius Berger to quit from central business area. When Julius Berger came to Abuja, they asked for a site for them to do their construction. That site does not mean it belongs to Julius Berger. Julius Berger has finished their job. They have to quit the land.
“You cannot tell me if they give you a site because of your construction; you finish, the land now turns to be your own. Is it possible? Show me the document that it belongs to you. I am not that kind of person. You can think that you go on television and start saying you have lived on the land for over 20 years. And so what? You are a squatter. If you like, go and carry everybody. What is wrong is wrong.
“You go behind your back and tell people to beg me, and then you go on television to tell people that they came to take your land and you said the land was allocated to a Rivers man. So what? So, a Rivers man is not entitled to have land in Abuja? You will tell me who that person is that is entitled to have land in Abuja.
“You can’t tell me that. If you want me to go and publish names of people who have landed in Abuja, I will go and publish; let Nigerians see. If you want land, you know the right thing to do. You know the right step to take. Through blackmail, you won’t get it. You won’t get it.
“If your husband had a company that did a job for Abuja and had a site to stay, that doesn’t make it your husband’s property. It doesn’t. It is for you to come and say, Please, we have this problem. How can you help us? And not to begin to blackmail people and tell them to go to social media that Mr Wike has come to take your land and he gave it to a House of Representatives member.
“Ask the Chairman of FCT. Who does not have land in the National Assembly? Ask him. Who does not? I mean, some of us, you cannot get us by blackmail. Forget it. If you have a problem, come to us. We will know how to help you. We will know how to solve the problem, not saying, “Oh, I am a woman. Oh, I am a woman”.
“What’s that? Because you’re a woman, you will go and carry government land? Let anybody tell the person. Bring your documents to show that the property is yours. I have published it in newspapers, and people thought I was joking,” he added.
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