The Department of Development Control of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to come to its aid in tackling the growing activities of land grabbers within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The agency made the call when its director, Mukhtar Usman Galadima, led a delegation of other senior officials of the department to the Abuja corporate headquarters of the EFCC on a courtesy visit on Thursday, February 15, 2024.

Galadima said: “We are here specifically to seek collaboration in view of the fact that the Commission is for the fight against economic and financial crimes.

“In recent times, there is an upsurge in the case of land grabbing and unapproved development, and from the look of things, it is a well-coordinated syndicate which I believe, we alone as a department cannot fight effectively. That is why we came to you as the number one fighter against financial crimes in the country so that we can collaborate to fight this ever-increasing criminal activities.”

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In his response, the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, who spoke through the Secretary to the Commission, Mohammad Hammajoda, assured the delegation of the anti-graft agency’s willingness and readiness to do its utmost in all the areas that fall within its mandate in tackling the scourge.

He said: “The issue you raised about the increasing trend of forgery of land documents and impersonation of original allottees is both worrisome and scary because of the endemic nature it has assumed at the FCT.

“It might interest you to know that we have a  Property and Land Fraud Unit, dedicated to the city’s real estate matters, domiciled, not within our office complex but at the FCDA for the strategic reason of fighting from the theatre of war. Outcomes from the officers of that unit have been tremendous, yet we are ever ready and willing to do more in whichever area that falls within our mandate.”

The Star