A legal dispute has erupted over a parcel of land designated as a recreation area in the Federal Capital Territory, with Hongye International Nigeria Limited accusing the FCT Administration of double allocation while its 35-year lease is still subsisting.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, Solicitor to the company, Mr. Matthew Onoja, described the development as “a clear case of self-help, impunity and total disregard for due process of law.”
Onoja explained that the property was lawfully allotted to Hongye International Nigeria Limited as far back as 2013 under the land swap policy of the FCT Administration. Under the policy, he said, private developers provide infrastructure and amenities in certain locations within the FCT under a public-private partnership, and in return, plots from those areas are allotted to them, while other portions are reserved for public use.
“That is how my client came by this land in the first place,” he said.
He said part of the area reserved for public use as recreation was later leased by the FCTA to his client in September 2014 for 35 years for the purpose of developing it for recreational use. According to him, all documentations were duly executed, filed at the land registry of the FCTA, and building approvals were obtained.
“Our client has been in possession of this land, executing step by step the development plan for which the land was allotted. The lease is still subsisting,” he said.
Onoja said trouble started in May 2026 when his client observed strangers inspecting the land and advertising it to prospective buyers as theirs.
He said investigations revealed that a portion of the recreation area covered by his client’s subsisting lease had been allotted to another company, Freda Apparel Limited.
“We approached the court. We filed a suit in May 2026 for the court to decide whether this conduct is lawful,” he said, adding that the Minister of the FCT, the FCTA, the Abuja Municipal Management Council, Freda Apparel Limited and its sole director were joined as defendants and have all been duly served, including the Director of Lands.
Onoja added that due to the unusual circumstances under which the second allocation was made, the company has petitioned the Inspector General of Police to unravel how the allocation was made.
In a related remark, Executive Director of Grassroots Centre for Rights and Civic Orientation, Armsfreed Ajanaku, called on the FCT Administration to immediately halt all developments encroaching on green areas.
“There is a reason why those areas were designated as green areas in the first place. Green area does not mean the place will be left fallow. There are particular uses, for example, some recreational uses for those areas, but you do not go converting those spaces to shopping malls,” he said.
Ajanaku warned that Abuja risks repeating the mistakes that turned Lagos into a concrete jungle, noting that preservation of green areas is about health and well-being.
“Our direct call is that every ongoing development in a green area, insofar as that place is designated as a green area, should be halted and those spaces should be reverted to what they are meant for. If this administration fails to do it, we are calling on subsequent administrations to reverse it,” he said.
