The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has lamented how a land developer in Abuja who accused him of being anti-Igbo allegedly abused him via text messages.

Wike stated that the Federal Capital Territory will take a new phase and will no longer be conducive for those with the intention of deceiving the government with land developer identities.

The minister, in an interview granted to a group of journalists recently, said in the text message which he described as insulting, the land developer claimed that he vowed to deal with the Igbos.

The minister said, “In his text, he said, ‘you said you want to deal with the Igbos.’

“Imagine such a blackmail. The land we are talking about, did he give it to the Igbos? How can you think you are too smart to tell the public that I said I will deal with the Igbos and people can sit down and listen to such a thing?”

He stated that land grabbers present themselves as developers to the government with deceptive intentions.

Speaking on the lawsuits against the FCTA, he stressed that the suits against the FCTA were on before he assumed duties as the minister.

He added that, “The problem in this country is impunity. ‘I’ve been doing it before and I’ll continue to do it and nothing will happen.’ Criminals are criminals, they may come in different ways. I’ve never seen land grabbing like in this FCT. Since I came in, there have been so many petitions.

“One company called has over 10 petitions from different owners of properties. So, I summoned a meeting of all of them and they came with their lawyers who are senior advocates. I said look what is this? Company A presented their own, company B presented their own, company C and company D Company and E did the same.

“I said okay I’m going to seek advice from external solicitors. I’m not going to take it from inside the house because the legal secretariat and land department have been so compromised. So, I sought the views of two very senior lawyers. They wrote to me with their opinions but arrived at the same thing,” he added.

Wike explained that the land in question was allocated before he became the minister.

“First of all, what happened? This land that this so-called ethnic jingoist talked about was allocated when there was no minister. The minister left on May 29, 2023, and in June, the land was allocated by the Director of Lands.

“These guys think they too are clever. We met and said to Company B, don’t do anything again until we are able to make a final decision. Do you know what happened? These guys, thinking they were too smart, went on trying to fence and allocate the land to people to buy.

“How did I know? A lady came and said she is looking for the honourable minister; I want you to advise me. There’s a place I want to buy land. I asked where and she named the area and I said no, we were having problems with it and I told her not to. Another time, the lady came back because she is a friend of mine and said people were buying and building. I said what?

This, however, led to outrage by affected and concerned Nigerians, calling for the withdrawal of the order.

An Abuja land owner, Alhaji Mohammed Ibrahim Kamba, dragged the minister and the Director of Development Control to court for demolishing his building under construction at Plot 226, Cotonou Street, Wuse Zone 6, Abuja.

Despite the public outrage, the FCTA in October, vowed to take action against defiant landowners for tampering with land previously revoked by Wike’s order.(The PUNCH)