The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has warned local chiefs against selling lands to unsuspecting members of the public.
Accordingly, the administration has pledged its resolve to eliminate land racketeering in the territory, saying it had concluded plans to establish zonal offices to curb the indiscriminate sale of land by local chiefs in the territory.
Mandate Secretary, Area Councils Services Secretariat, Ibrahim Abubakar, disclosed this at a media parley in Abuja.
According to him, the FCTA has stopped all graded chiefs from selling any portion of the land within the FCT apart from the FCT Minister, who is the only person that has the right to allocate or revoke any land.
“I want to use this medium to tell those in FCT to meet those in charge of land for any transaction.
“The administration has approved establishment of zonal offices to curtail indiscriminate sales and purchase of land in FCT.
“So, I am telling you that the administration is not taking this lightly.
“We don’t encourage this (indiscriminate sales) and there is a severe punishment for anyone found wanting.
“Having faced the law, at the end you will stand to lose whatever you are proud of as a village chief in the community,” he cautioned.
Meanwhile, Abubakar noted that cases of insecurity in the territory have reduced due to effective collaboration with security agencies.
He added that drones were being deployed in strategic locations to beef up security in the territory.
