Estate Demolition: Court fixes May 8 for continuation of hearing

The estate developer accused the Abuja administration of illegal demolition.

An Abuja High Court sitting in Wuse Zone 2, Abuja, on Tuesday adjourned to May 8 further hearing in a suit filed by Minanuel Estate over demolition of its 500 housing units in October.

Justice Danlami Senchi said the adjournment was necessary to enable the two parties produce more witnesses and for the court to verify the authenticity of documents expected to be presented by them.

The Federal Capital Development Administration (FCDA) claimed during the demolition in October that the allocation of the land to Minanuel Estate, located along Airport Road, Abuja, was not properly done.

The counsel to Minanuel Estate, Chris Uche, told the court that the land was bought from AMAC in 2003 when the council had the power to allocate lands.

Uche said the management of the estate had every document to back up its claim, saying he had more documents to support the ones he had already presented to the court.

He argued that if the land was allocated to another individual or group, such allocation would then be a reallocation because it had earlier been allocated to Minanuel Estate developer.

Mr. Uche said he also had witnesses that would support his claim.

Joe Gadzama, the defence counsel, argued that the Minanuel Estate developer had no right of occupancy to the land.

Mr. Gadzama said the developer had no approval for the land because it was only the minister that had the right to allocate land in the FCT, adding that he too had witnesses to support his argument.

(NAN)