A group of aggrieved residents and land owners in Yobe State have threatened to institute a legal action to compel both Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate, arrest and sue officials of the public housing finance company, Family Home and Fund (FHF) Ltd, for an alleged misappropriation of compensation funds despite the State Government approval.
This was revealed by hundreds of affected land owners who converged on Friday in Damaturu, Yobe State, led by Mallam Abubakar Tebo, alleging that they were denied of their compensation from the approved total sum of N1 billion allocated by Governor Mai-Mala Buni’s administration to payoff land owners whose lands were affected due to siting of the construction of about 2600 housing units across the state.
He praised Yobe State government for the housing projects intended to make workers in the state house owners but, “officials of the FHF Ltd., denied us, the land owners of the compensation that followed the loss of our landed properties to this laudable projects. This is mischievous and it is unacceptable, FHF Ltd must pay us our compensation in full.
“The payment was allegedly withdrawn instead of immediate commencement of payment to rightful owners of the plots with valid and verified documents. All the exercises to ascertain smooth reimbursement were carried out and the State Governor Mallam Buni did the needful by approving the sum of N1billion for our compensation. We see this as rude denial for no reason. This sum of money is meant to be a resettlement for our lost land. Some of us lost their loved ones, while unable to fund medical bills due to denial of our settlement.
Some of us planned to use the proceeds to re-establish themselves in other businesses while others are struggling to get the money from the disposed land and channel the proceed to give their children to marriage but FHF Ltd, allegedly sat on our money while we are dying in silent,” he said. Tebo urged the EFCC, ICPC and DSS to as a matter of urgency, investigate the case and punish those behind the alleged misappropriation of funds for the settlement of the affected land owners in Yobe State while threatened to institute legal actions to compel the anti-graft agencies on the matter if they felt otherwise.
You will recall that Governor Mai-Mala Buni of Yobe State in 2019, signed a whopping sum of N10.8bn in agreement with Family Home Fund (FHF) Ltd, a public housing finance company, to build houses, comprising of two and three-bedroom bungalows, within 18 months in seven locations around the 17 Local Government Areas of the state, a sum of N1billion out of this sum were meant to offset owners of the affected plots of land on which these buildings were constructed.