..DPO accused of covering-up for developers, KADGIS
By our Correspondent
Over 10 people who acquired vast plots of land teemed up Friday and vehemently resisted alleged land graping reportedly orchestrated by Kaduna State Urban Planning and Development Agency (KASUPDA) in Ungwan Waziri in Kariji
community, Yakowa new road, in kaduna State.
Our Correspondent who was a star witness reported that, it was a face-to-face show between the owners of land, including retired senior military officers and civilians, when the labourers mobilized to the site to fence the land were confronted in the morning of Friday and Saturday respectively.
The plots owners, all christians, who vowed to stop further works on the land, regroup Saturday with police security operatives and a Divisional Police Officer (DPO), millennium city intervention disclaiming Sariki Ungwan Waziri, raising tensions within the community.
Identities and names of notable staffs of KASUPDA and that of Kaduna Geographic Information Service (KADGIS), linked to the alleged sordid deals featured prominently in an interview with newsmen.
The state government was also mentioned, to stamp authority of state actors, to legitimize the alleged land encroachment by KASUPDA, and KADGIS – an agency charged with providing quality and sustainable land use planning and administration in the State, in accordance with the provisions of the Land Use Act Laws of the Federation (CAP 202 of 2004) and other relevant laws.
Briefing journalists, leader and spokesman of the affected plots and land owners, Mr. Kolawale Kayode said some of them acquired the land over three years ago under El-rufai administration, adding all efforts to start developing their land were frustrated by the agencies, telling them to wait until regularization form issued to them.
Mr. Kayode also told newsmen in an interview that a meeting was convened by Sariki of Ungwan Waziri, Jonathan Waziri, and affected land owners and uncovered that one Sani Idris of KASUPDA is in picture of the deals, according Sariki who claimed to have met with Idris in his office on the matter.
“When we want to build, they keep telling us that we should hold on, they are going to bring regularization form, right from El-rufai time. I think that’s the best way to explain it.
“They keep telling us they are going to bring us regularization form, that we can’t build, If we build, they will break our walls”, he said, pointing at direction of some samples of broken walls of some erected buildings.
He also lamented that” When we just put even two or three blocks to secure the property, they will say they will break it down until we get permits”.
He said aside charging him for another N75,000 for penalty for the dwarf wall, the totality of everything paid altogether was about N400, 000 for building permits from KASUPDA and also Kaduna State Environmental protection Agency (KEPA), processing, and I’m position of processing fee receipts or papers.
According to Kayode, all his members and owner of the plots of land have processed the papers and in possession their Deed of Assignment and formal letters from the KASUPDA Authority.
He said he was in Lagos State on appointment, on his health issue and other important engagement when called to inform the development, and had to run down and discovered labourer working on his land and other land owners in the area.
According to him, when the labourers working on the land could not provide adequate information about their sponsors, they decided to call the owners of the land together and met the Sariki of Ungwan Waziri.
Mr. Kayode also told journalist Saturday at the site that, aside declaiming Sariki Waziri, the DPO also revealed that KADGIS official called him, querying the rational behind calling police without calling the Sariki of the area on landed issue known to Sariki.
The spokesman of the owners of the land also said Sariki Waziri called a meeting in the morning. “He said they have been to KASUPDA yesterday
because we went and met Sariki”.
“He said there was no any communication to him. He was not inform of anything. He was not told anything by anybody. He went to KASUPDA, and when he got there, he saw the man called Sani Idris and he said to him that the file was open and it was sent to him from government, called from Governor”,
“Sani said they sent the file
and that the file has been sent, and there’s nothing they can do, they have to work with it”, Kayode explained, insisting in members knowing the names of the developers and key officials of KASUPDA and KADGIS behind the ugly land grabing deals.
Born in kaduna, Mr. Kayode said he promised using his land to built sporting events center for young jobless youth of the areas to utilitize and showcase talents and not building beer parlour as maybe insulated by some people.
Also interviewed, a retired Warrant Officer, and owner of land in the affected area, Levinus Christopher, said he used his retirement benefits to acquired the Land.
“I joined the army in 1989, January, and retired January 2024, that was last year. So they paid me my retirement benefit February 2024. So I used my retirement benefit to purchase two plots of land here in Ungwan waziri, under Kariji, to develop it and build accomodation.
But to my greatest surprise, yesterday, somebody just told me,
one Okada rider, because he knows my land, he told me that there are two people building fences. So I have to rush down. Reaching here, I saw it, that they were building fences.
“We asked the workers, nobody is ready to tell anybody what is happening, who is doing it.
But from all information that we are getting, is that the government, they collected the land and gave to a developer. Which we don’t know who is that developer”, he lamented.
Also speaking, a female civil servant and land owner in confidence confirmed to journalists that she had been a victim of pulling down her buildings structures by KASUPDA twice for reasons unclear to her and decided to hold on, against friend advise before building on the plots bought in the area with their father retirement benefits.
She called on Governor Uba Sani’s intervention to rescue them, emphasizing that the Governor is ignorant of the alleged of shady land deals as being insinuated by some officials of KASUPDA and or KADGIS.
Contacted, both the officials of KASUPDA and KADGIS denied knowledge of the developers working fencing plots of land in Ungwan waziri, demanding for the company name and developers or those behind the deals.
The Sariki Waziri and DPO millennium city later met and agreed that further work be suspended on the land by unknown developer pending the conclusion on investigation and other necessity put in place till Monday, but victims still raged in dealing with any further encroachment.
END
Middle-Belt Times 