How 7-Day-Old Baby Saved Parents’ House From Demolition

Mrs Mercy Ezekiel and her 7-Day-old baby

A woman who had just given birth to a baby seven days before a demolition exercise, had her house spared from being demolished by the officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).

Mrs Mercy Ezekiel who resides in Gishiri village, Katampe Extension, in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) where the demolition exercise took place had just gone through a Caesarean operation few days before the demolition and was still in the hospital when she heard the sad news.

“I heard that officials of the FCTA came and marked some houses but when I came back from the hospital, I looked around but did not see any mark for demolition on our house. So, I assumed that the houses that were not marked would not be affected by the exercise,” she explained.

Some of the affected victims narrated how they got the apartment

According to one of the tenants: “I’m a tenant and I moved in here only in September 2013. The person I rented the house from told me he bought the land from Hajiya. This Hajiya is the one that has been selling the whole land in this vicinity. Even though she informed residents that the sale is temporal, she assured them that there is no problem with the land for now until after the 2015 general election. So, people rushed to buy these lands.”

Another victim who happens to be a  landlord in the area, Pastor Akpos Felix Oga of the Anointed House of Victory said:

“I bought this land measuring 50 by 50 from Hajiya and built some living rooms for members of my church which I later rented out at the rate of N150,000 for the self-contain rooms. Even though the land was sold to us temporarily as we were told the rightful owners with allocation papers for it would come for it later, we were assured that we would be here for at least four years before they come to take ownership of the land,” he lamented.

However the accused  Hajiya Adebayo denied all the allegations made against her saying: “I did not sell the land to them. I rent it out to thoise who want to build and we contribute and build and share the proceeds from rent,” .

The district officer of Katampe, Kalu Amadi said its unfortunate how residents fall victim to fraud whereby government lands are been to them by individuals without the necessary requirements.

He thereby advised residents to seek redress with law enforcement agencies.

READ MORE: http://news.naij.com/62742.html

READ MORE: http://news.naij.com/62742.html