Al-Mustapha Sues Ministry Over Landed Property

The former Chief Security Officer to the late General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza al-Mustapha has dragged the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing to the Federal High Court, Lagos, southwest Nigeria, over the revocation of his land in Lagos.

A statement on oath sworn to by his brother, Alhaji Usman Aliyu  averred that al-Mustapha,  convicted for the murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, claimed that in 1997, he applied to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development for allocation of  land within the Phase II Development Scheme along Osborne Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.

He was subsequently allocated a property at Block 2, Plot 9 and he paid all the charges.

He stated that he did not at any time receive a notice that the plot allocated to him had been revoked by the ministry.

In addition, al-Mustapha said there was never a time that the plot allotted to him was acquired by any government agency for any overriding purpose.

He averred that he was surprised that sometime ago, he was informed of some act of trespass on the land and upon enquiry, he was informed that the land had been reallocated to another person by the ministry.

He then wrote a letter to the ministry demanding explanation on what happened and a reply was sent, demanding for more document as evidence of his interest in the land.

He stated that he forwarded to the ministry, the provisional allocation letter which was approved by the then Minister of Housing, Major-General Abdul Karim Adisa.

Despite the his repeated demands, the defendant (ministry) has refused to restore to him the plot without any justifiable reason.

He therefore urged the court to enter judgment in his favour in the following terms against the defendant:

•A declaration that the purported reallocation of his plot to an unknown person by the ministry is illegal, null and void, having not followed the due process of law.

•An order of the court restoring the plot to him and payment of N1 million cost of the litigation.

The presiding judge, Justice Saliu Saidu adjourned the case  till 18 December, 2012 for hearing.

—AKIN KUPONIYI