Police arrest 5 CRD residents over land dispute in Abuja

IT seems there is no respite in the ongoing face-off between the residents of Committee on Roadside Development (CRD), Lugbe 1 Land Owners Association and River Park Estate management in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) a couple and three other CRD residents were said to have been arrested and detained by the police since Tuesday.

It will be recalled that CRD dwellers, who recently staged a peaceful protest within the community over the alleged land encroachment by the River Park Estate, displaced placards with inscriptions such as: “Hon Minister, sir. Please, prevail on D.P.O, River Park Police Station, he has no business in land matters; Sir, CRD Layout Residents need your urgent intervention to stop administrative injustice; Hon Minister, sir. Our layout is AGIS NO: 0234,” further faulted the alleged encroachment by the developer.

TribuneOnline reliably gathered that the latest uproar in the area was not unconnected with the resistance of the residents when the developer was said to have moved to another part of the community to also encroach on it.

One of the eyewitnesses, who did not want his name in print, lamented that the developer was using its influence in the society to unleash mayhem on defenceless residents of CRD.

While narrating his ordeal, one of the arrested members of the community, Mr John Chiokwe, who had been released on bail, confirmed to TribuneOnline, on Wednesday, that husband and wife, as well as two other residents alongside himself were all arrested by the police for alleged cook-up story.

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Mr Chiokwe, who is also the Secretary of CRD, Lugbe 1 Land Owners Association, said: “at about 10:00 am, on Tuesday, on my way to my plot (Plot CRD 473) at CRD Lugbe 1 layout, I saw a set of people numbering over 30 with police uniform and some without uniform speaking Fulani language.

“On sighting them, I slowed down and the next thing I heard was gunshots (continuously three times) towards me and they bounced on me. My only question was why they were harassing me and the response was that it was an instruction. I was tear-gassed on a close range and was beaten with rods, cutlasses and stick and smuggled into a waiting car to River Park Police Station.

“When I got there, I also made enquiry of the person that instructed that I should be manhandled but was told to wait for the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Mr Chris Offor, a Superintendent of Police (SP).

They ordered that I should give them all my belongings after another beating in the station and I gave them my phone, my two-page document, and my children three playing stones in my cloth bag.

“I was immediately ordered into a room and incommunicado for about three hours without treatment of the wounds all over my body. Strangely when I was called out, the story changed, the DPO said he was told that I was using arms against some Fulani, though they could not prove it.

“The DPO then said that I should go and make a statement and collect my belongings. On getting out, another policeman started saying they could not see my shoes and I could not go with my two-page document and my children stones because they want to present them as exhibits against me. I only collected my phone,” Mr Chiokwe explained.

Meanwhile, all efforts to get the reactions of DPO, SP Offor, were not successful as he denied being the DPO of River Park Police Station on phone and quickly hung up on Our Correspondent.

Despite his denial, Nigerian Tribune’s correspondent further sent a text message to his MTN telephone mobile number for his confirmation about the arrest and subsequent questions which he never replied as at the time of filing this report.

When contacted, however, on phone, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Command, Mr. Anjuguri Manza, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said the command was not aware of any arrest, and admonished the CRD residents to feel free to bring their complaints before the command.

“I am just hearing it, I am not aware of any arrest. If they have anything, let them come to the command, please because what you are saying is new to me, so if they have anything, let those people come to the command. Let us hear from them. Because the issue now is that I am not aware of any arrest. Secondly, if they (CRD residents) have anything against any agency, let them come to the command, the command is ready to listen to them,” DSP Manza assured.