In 2006, the Nasarawa State Government through the Nasarawa State Urban Development Board (NUDB) placed an advertisement inviting people to apply for plots to build residential homes at the Koroduma Residential Layout located in Karu LGA.
Karu LGA is one of the LGAs in the states bordering the FCT closest to and shares boundary with Abuja. Only signposts demarcate the LGA from Abuja and travellers may not even notice the borderline.
Since 2006, when the Nasarawa State Government requested applications, many prospective buyers completed the application process, and by 2007 paid the required money in the designated bank and obtained letters of allocation.
However, some of those who paid and have not been allocated plots told Daily Trust that 17 years after they made payment the government had still not shown them the plots.
Mallam Isah Abubakar, one of the affected allottees, said he sold some of his property in Sokoto State to pay for the plot which he believed would have more value because of its proximity to Abuja.
He said he paid N840,000 on September 24, 2007, into the Karu Area Planning Development Authority (KADPA) account at the Karu Zenith Bank Karu branch and was issued a receipt acknowledging the payment and the allocation of Plot 272 measuring 900sqm, but that as of 2019 after several attempts to identify the plot failed, he wrote a letter to NUBD on April 24, requesting for identification of the said Plot 272.
He further said that in a letter dated May 9, 2019, NUDB replied him that there was an issue regarding his case that needed to be resolved before attending to his request, adding that, they wrote, "We shall get back to you soonest," but that since then he had been to the office without any success.
He further explained that, "I bought the land when the dollar was just N80. I had to sell some of my property in Sokoto to be able to raise the N840,000. Now the government is not saying anything. I later realised that many people are also affected with the same issue. Some, I was told, are now late.
Anthony Adah, a retired civil servant also affected, said he paid N800,000 for two plots in 2007, but that like others, he never got to see the land as every attempt to get the government to show him his plots failed.
He said, "All I want is for the state government to show me my plots. I paid for the plots 17 years ago. I'm not seeking for refund, I want the plots even if they are in another location."
While describing as unfair what had happened to them, he said the the value of their plots would have hit millions of naira in view of the rapid development in Karu.
Another allottee, Patrick Nnamdi Emegharibe, paid 840,000 and was given receipts acknowledging payment of N640,000 and N200,000 on December 10, 2007, and September 13, 2007, respectively by the Greater Karu Area Planning and Development Authority (New Karu).
A letter of allocation with Plot 232 measuring 900sqm was issued to him but till date, according to him, he has not been shown the plots.
Meanwhile, sources in Karu LGA Secretariat told Daily Trust that the layout in question had issues because the state government failed to compensate the natives and so the land was sold to other people which further complicated the issue.
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Daily Trust gathered that in a letter from NUDB in Lafia dated May 19, 2019, to one of the allottees, the agency acknowledged there were "issues" to be resolved but did not state what the issues were.
But in another letter with reference number: NUDB/NS/OFF/109/Vol 1, to one Malam Abubakar on July 9, 2019, from NUDB, the ag AGM, Mr L. Makeri, said that all enquiries henceforth would have to go to the state's Ministry of Land and Physical Planning which was responsible for the administration of the layout.
Daily Trust further reports that Karu is fast becoming heavily populated, with the Mararaba axis having one of the worst traffic scenes in the country because of its proximity to Abuja (less than 10km to the presidential villa.)
