CHAIRMAN of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Mr Ekpo Nta, in Abuja, on Thursday, said his agency seized a total of 61 houses from an official of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in the course of the ongoing investigations into the alleged land scam, allocations and racketeering in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Others seizure by the anti-graft agency, according to the ICPC boss, included 45 plots of land at different locations within the FCT and a duplex, while several banks’ accounts used for the illegal land deal had been traced and frozen.
Nta disclosed this to the House of Representatives ad hoc committee probing the alleged land swap and racketeering in the FCT.
The ICPC boss further gave the breakdown of the 61 houses seized from the NSCDC official, saying that it consisted of 40 units of three-bedroom flats, 20 units of two-bedroom flats and a duplex.
He said official letters had been written to the appropriate government land authorities on the status of the seized property and publication made in national dailies so that members of the public would not fall victims of the illegal dealing again.
He said that the agency embarked on the investigation, following a formal complaint from the Commandant General of the NSDC, Dr Ade Abolurin, who personally visited him on May 15 and asked the agency to investigate the alleged land scam, with a view to getting to the root of the matter.
Abolurin, according to Nta, had briefed the agency on alleged illegal sale of lands to unsuspecting members of the public in the name of the agency, under a non-existing housing estate scheme in Abuja and Nasarawa State.
“Impressed by the action of the Commandant General of the corps, by reporting his own officials for alleged wrong doings and demanding for an independent investigation, I commenced an immediate investigation by directing the special squad I set up on land matters to swing into action and the team even started with some officers who the commandant came with.
“We made findings, we made efforts to get additional information from other government agencies and banks, which assisted us immensely in the course of our investigations,” he further explained.
According to the ICPC boss, “in the course of the investigation, we established that six different companies were used in the scam. We frozen the banks’ accounts of certain officers and the companies used. We seized several property, including 61 houses, 45 plots of land and a duplex traced to some of the officers.
“Interestingly, the 61 houses made up of 40 units of three-bedroom flats, 20 units of two-bedroom flats and a duplex were seized from a single officer.”
The ICPC boss, who disclosed that a particular company through which the NSCDC officials carried out the illegal deals were not among the six other companies that were investigated, promised to commence another round of investigation, based on the new information at its disposal.
While stating that all the interrogated officers had been released on administrative bail, except the one on the run, Nta said investigation had revealed that the affected officers used the NSCDC cooperative society to swindle the members of the public.
On whether the NSDC as an organisation was culpable or not, Mr Nta said investigation so far showed that the NSCDC boss knew nothing about the deal and promptly reported it to the ICPC when he got wind of it.
On whether there would be a way of compensating the 186 victims of the scam, since the property had been seized, the ICPC boss said “that is beyond our power.
The final decision rests on the court. Ours is to arrest, investigate and prosecute, but as we speak, we have established abuse of office against some of the officers investigated, it is the court that will now decide their fate.”
The committee, chaired by Honourable Bimbo Daramola, commended the ICPC boss for his submission, saying that it would assist in no small way to get to the root of the scam.
The committee also chided the former FCT commandant of the corps, now an Assistant Commandant General of NSCDC, Alhaji Rabe Saidu, for claiming ignorance of all the illegal transactions that took place under his command.
Saidu had claimed that he was away to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, when the scam blew open and that he was never queried by the leadership of the corps, but his second in command, Mr Isikilu Akinsanyan, countered him, saying that the FCT commandant was actually queried on the illegal transactions.
Source: Tribune
