FCDA demolishes Woodcrest estate in Abuja

The federal capital development authority (FCDA) on Friday demolished Woodcrest estate.

The estate which was under construction, is located at Mpape, a community in Bwari area council of Abuja.

The development came weeks after the FCDA demolished an estate being developed by Praco International Limited.

Speaking with reporters, Eze Okpara, manager of the estate, said they began developing the estate in 2019.

“This is our estate, we started developing it around 2019 and already the structures on ground were three units completed and four units decked, we have three units that we are still decking and then the DPC for the plaza completed,” Okpara said.

“I am surprised that the structures are being demolished. We have household materials and chairs inside one of the units. The estate is 11,000 square meters.”

The manager said before the authorities came to demolish the property, there was another developer who contested the land, and that the case is pending in court.

“They (authorities) came to mark the structures sometimes back, we referred them to our lawyer that whatever they needed are pasted on the wall and the case is still on and to our greatest surprise they are coming for demolition today,” he said.

Tony Ogbulafor, counsel to the developers of the estate, said they have approval for the construction.

“I got a call from the managing director of Toub Associates, it was alleged that some demolition was going on and he called me to the estate to see what was going on,” the lawyer said.

“On getting here, policemen and NSCDC men numbering over 100 blocked us from entering, saying they are a joint task force and they don’t allow anybody to come close, that we can only come in when the demolition is completed.

“Because they were wielding guns, we had to pipe low.”

Ogbulafor said work had not finished on the estate because of the litigation, adding that a court ordered that status quo be maintained pending the determination of the suit.

“Based on the order of the court which said we should not do anything, that is why we stopped, if not we would have completed the estate,” he said.

“We only have staff who are overseeing the things that are there, they are not doing any development.

“Some have been developed, others are under development. We expected the minister, FCDA and Majin Nigeria Limited to obey the order. I cannot say Majin is involved because the police said it is the minister that sent them.”