Don’t Buy Land on Social Media Platform; AGIS Warns
By: Wisdom Acka
The Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS) has warned against buying land on social media platforms; advising buyers to first carry out due diligence before engaging in any unprofitable truncation that would leave them defrauded.
Director, AGIS, Dr. Isa Ibrahim Jalo, said the warning has become necessary following increase in land racketeering and illegal development of estates in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Jalo, while chatting with journalists in his office, regretted that despite several awareness campaign carried out by the government against the menace, some members of the public were still very gullible to land grabbers, who put up advertorials on social media and other platforms in the Territory.
This is coming on the heels of recent arrest of seven estate developers, allegedly involved in illegal developments and land grabbing in Guzape II District, Abuja.
The Director stated that the right thing was for those interested in doing land transaction is to visit the FCT Department of Land Administration, to verify the authenticity of the title.
He added that even those with authentic land titles could not start development without obtaining necessary approval from the FCT Department of Development Control and other relevant agencies of the FCT Administration.
His words: “You just see somebody advertising on the social media or somewhere in the media, and you just decide to patronise and buy land; you don’t do that, as you are supposed to come to Department of Land Administration to check the genuineness of that title.”
Jalo explained: “Even if you have an Area Council title, by virtue of the Supreme Court judgement, all titles in the FCT belong to the Federal Government, so you cannot claim that, because you have Area Council title, then you go ahead to start development.”
“No one can start development without the consent and written approval of the FCT Development Control Department in the first instance”, he emphasized.
