FCTA lessee seeks Wike and IGP intervention over disputed Kado Estate land takeover

A company leasing land from the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) says bulldozers and other equipment moved onto its property at Kado Estate in Abuja and destroyed parts of the premises while a court case over the land remains pending.

The lessee, Hongye International Nigeria Limited, made the allegation through its lawyer, Matthew Onoja, at a press conference in Abuja. Onoja said the action followed the purported allocation of the same property to another party despite his client's existing lease from the FCTA and its continued possession of the site.

Onoja said the company petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, over the allocation, was invited by the police, adopted the petition and submitted documents and other evidence relating to the property. He said the police indicated that the other party would also be contacted to present its documents, but that an attempt to take over the property was made while that investigation was still ongoing.

The legal team notified both the police and the FCTA's Development Control Unit that the property was subject to a dispute and a pending court case, with the relevant parties already joined in the suit and hearing notices issued, he said. Despite this, he alleged, men arrived at the property with equipment and bulldozers and began destroying parts of the premises. “The perimeter fence was destroyed, trees were felled and my client's installations were pulled down,” Onoja said.

He said he went to the property after being told the operation had resumed and met the same people returning to continue the takeover, but was not shown any document authorising the action. “They came in marked pickup trucks and other men. I asked them if they knew there was a dispute and a pending court case and whether they had seen the notice on the perimeter fence,” he said, adding that those at the site told him he had no right to question them and directed him to “go to court.”

The lawyer said his client should remain in possession until the court determines the rights of the parties, and disclosed that the matter is scheduled for hearing in October 2026. He urged the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, and the Inspector-General of Police to intervene to ensure the parties maintain the status quo pending that determination.

Also speaking, Armsfree Ajanaku, executive director of the Grassroots Centre for Rights and Civic Orientation, said the group's interest went beyond the private dispute to the protection of Abuja's green spaces, adding that the Kado Estate location was understood to be a green area designated under the capital's master plan. He expressed concern over the increasing conversion of green spaces in Abuja to housing, shopping malls and other developments, and linked the issue to wider environmental worries in the FCT, including flooding.