FCT Land Tussle: Demolitions Proceed at River Park Estate Despite AGF’s Intervention

The ongoing corporate tug-of-war over the multi-billion naira River Park Estate in Abuja has taken a destructive turn, threatening the livelihoods of over 200 Nigerian workers.

Recent visual evidence, captured in a video file titled Who Protects the Workers 200+ Nigerian Jobs Threatened Amid Alleged Investor Harassment.mp4, showcases the exact level of destruction at the site. The footage reveals a targeted approach to the demolition, with an eyewitness in the video explaining, “So this is what they did. So they didn’t touch this part. The fence on this side was demolished.”

This physical damage aligns with recent reports indicating that the estate’s gatehouse was destroyed on June 27, followed by the alleged occupation of portions of The Gallery Clubhouse on July 1.

The demolition marks a new low in the fierce ownership battle between a Nigerian claimant, Dr. Adeniran Ogunmuyiwa, and a group of Ghanaian investors led by Kojo Ansah Mensah. Dr. Ogunmuyiwa claims to have founded JonahCapital Nigeria Limited in 2006 and accuses the Ghanaian faction of attempting a corporate hijack by dubiously allocating 99,000,000 new shares to themselves earlier in 2024.

The Ghanaian investors, backed by Sir Sam Jonah’s pan-African group, maintain that they are the rightful drivers of the mass housing development through Mobus Properties Limited and JonahCapital.

The dispute has drawn the attention of high-ranking government officials. FCT Minister Nyesom Wike previously weighed in on the matter, making statements that suggested the Ghanaians were the rightful owners of the estate.

The conflict also saw brief criminal proceedings when the Nigeria Police Force filed a 26-count forgery charge against Kojo Mensah, Sir Sam Jonah, Mobus Property, and their Nigerian lawyer, Abu Arome. However, in a major legal twist earlier this year, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), fully discontinued the charges. The AGF dismissed the police investigation as “misleading, legally defective, and an abuse of authority,” which led to an FCT High Court officially striking out the case.

Despite these legal victories and Sir Sam Jonah’s formal petition to the Foreign Minister decrying the expropriation of their investments and the bypassing of judicial processes, physical enforcement actions and structural demolitions have continued on the ground.

With fences torn down and site security compromised, the immediate casualties of this boardroom war appear to be the estate’s workforce. The over 200 local contractors, artisans, and administrative staff now face severe job insecurity, prompting urgent questions about who will protect the Nigerian workers caught in the crossfire of this escalating international corporate clash.