Uthman Abubakar
8 April 2009
(Page 2 of 2)
According to him, the corner shops initially belonged to the FHA officials, who later sold them or transferred their ownership to other people, which could have been the reason for the FHA's inability to stop the construction of additional illegal structures around them.
"You see, our problem with the FHA doesn't even stop there. We the Muslims are battling with something now," the retired military officer said, explaining, "the land adjacent 32 Crescent shopping centre originally designated as a place of worship for Muslims is already sold by the same FHA which initially allocated it for place of worship to the Jamaatu Nasril Islam (JNI). We have the master plan that shows this. Even the FHA officials are not contesting it. Later, they began to say 'who did what, and then sold it somebody' and so on, in fact, that is not even the problem. The problem now is that the information now shows that they are now going to use that place for a hotel."
He recalled: "Right before 2003, we Muslim Ummah of Gwarimpa have been fighting the battle. We have written three letters since 2003, asking the FHA to give this land originally allocated to us to start developing it. We indicated in the letters that we learnt this land has been sold. The relevant papers of the ownership of the land have still not been handed over to us. That is why all we had to do was to fence it. In fact, we put there the notice that 'This land is not for sale. Trespassers will be prosecuted.' A letter was written to the minister. Up till now, nothing has been done. We have about four or five such designated places in Gwarimpa here. FHA sold all. This is the only one officially remaining for the Muslim Ummah. Why is it that the FHA doesn't want to give us our land? The about N80 million we learnt the land was sold for was not handed over to us. So, who authorized the sale, and on behalf of who?"
He said the association appeals to the FCT minister to wade into the matter and stop the FHA from finally taking over the land from the JNI.
"No! It is not true that Gwarimpa is insecure," the Public Relations Officer of the FCT Police Command, Mr. Jimoh Moshood (DSP), hit back furiously at the residents in a mobile cell interview, stating emphatically, "Gwarimpa is generally very secure. There is no serious concern about insecurity in any section of the estate at all. Gwarimpa is very calm. But is not an island on its own. It is a society like every other, and in every society you cannot rule out such minor crimes and insecurity threats. It is normal."
He continued: "About this SMS you said residents of some of the wards received from criminals, warning them to keep some amount of money for them, we have not received any report about that. We are not magicians to know whether criminals sent such nasty message to Yahaya or Biodun or James, or to any other resident. If they had reported it immediately to the police we would definitely do something about it. If they have not reported it, they should stop complaining. If they have reported it, they should allow the police to do their work. They should wait and see if anybody will harass them."
Mr. Jimoh admitted: "In this kind of society where the houses are detached, the residents should help the police by employing their own private guards to ensure their security. Such guards complement the work of the police. The problem of most residents is that they will not employ their own private guards and they will start complaining about insecurity. The police cannot be everywhere every time."
He stressed: "Any complaint about insecurity in any part of Gwarimpa is not genuine at all. The estate is generally very secure. Even on weekends, we patrol the estate day and night. We are doing our duty well in Gwarimpa."
Mr. Tunde Ipinmisho, the Public Relations Officer of the Federal Housing Authority responded to the two complaints of the residents.
"Gwarimpa Estate, like every other estate built by the FHA, is a living organism. A living organism does not remain static. It changes constantly," he posited, admitting, "We have received complaints by the group you referred to. The plot of land was originally allocated in the master plan for a place of worship, as they have said, but for more than ten years as the estate grows nobody came forward with a development plan for that place. Nobody came to say this is what we want to do with that place.
"If you go to Gwarimpa now you will see the pressure for land there. Therefore, the plot of land in question was re-allocated for another purpose. The master plan is not something that is static. It is open to review every time. In Gwarimpa there are many Mosques. On First Avenue alone you can count more than three Mosques. So it is not as if somebody doesn't want Mosque there. In fact, there are residential buildings converted to Mosques, against Development Control Regulations. In this particular instance, the plot of land was laying fallow for so long, ten years as I have said, and the Authority reserves the right to re-allocate any land in Gwarimpa Estate. It is within our purview," he argued.
"About the illegal structures you said, I don't know of such structures. I know about corner shops. The issue of corner shops is a general problem in Gwarimpa. Constantly, our development control officers are going round these corner shops to ensure that, one, people don't covert them to residential houses and two, to ensure that they are used for the purposes for which they are meant. That is in the books," Mr. Tunde said.
"But the reality is that many of the people who own those corner shops are not the ones using them. They have sublet them to other people. The matter came up about two years ago. The plan of the Authority now is to look eventually for a location; the kind soldiers call Mammy Market, which will be out of anybody's way. Subsequently, our development control officials will intensify activities to ensure that all those neighbourhood centers are used for the clear purpose for which they were allocated," the FHA image maker argued, stating, "we want to maintain the original plan. Anywhere we see illegal structures, whether in the corner shops or anywhere, the FHA development control department will pull them down."
Mr. Tunde debunked the resident's complaint about insecurity, saying, "I live in Gwarimpa Estate, and I can tell you that I have never lost sleep because of insecurity threat there since I went there. I think people should be more tolerant of others. We have agreed to live together in that estate. There are things you do which I don't like and there are things I do which you don't like. We meet at a common ground. Compromise is the word."
Who is right on the state of security in Gwarimpa Federal Housing Estate? The residents or the authorities?
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