The diasporan real estate investors have cried out over the demolition of WinHomes Global Estate in Okun, Ajah, Lagos, allegedly on the orders of the Federal Ministry of Works in the ongoing coastal road project construction.
They called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently intervene and save them from Minister of Works, adding that the estate was demolished for allegedly violating the 2006 gazetted alignment for a proposed coastal road project.
They added that they embarked on full due diligence and secured all necessary documents, including fulfilling requirements from the Lagos State government before starting building.
Stella Okengwu, a prominent diasporan investor, who briefed newsmen in Lagos, yesterday, said: “Our goal is to attract $250 million in repatriated investments through the WinHomes Investment Scheme Portal.
“We are law-abiding citizens committed to the development and growth of the Nigerian economy as well as its social and political development through the creation of job opportunities for over 5000 Nigerian youths both skilled and unskilled via the real estate project powered by Win Homes Global Services Ltd.
“Our due diligence included confirming that the property has a certificate of occupancy issued by the Lagos State government for the Okun Ajah community. We proceeded to obtain the governor’s consent and clearance from the coastal road right of way, which further confirms the validity of the title to the land.
“We crossed our Ts and dotted our Is. I need to emphasize that securing these documents was not only challenging, but painstakingly involved a lot of efforts, including travelling to and fro America to Nigeria countless times and meeting with the heads of departments at the Lagos State Bureau of Lands, the Surveyor General’s office and Ministry of Physical Planning, in the end, the estate land was secured and its development continued in earnest after confirming the land was free from the proposed coastal road alignment.
“However, we were surprised that the Minister of Works has now done the unimaginable by destroying the property, investments and sweat of Nigerians in the diaspora without prior notification, using the name of the president of Nigeria as leverage to cause pain, trauma and depression to the people in the diaspora after securing all these titles. The minister’s action has made a complete nonsense of the entire investment.
“Above all, the minister’s action is not only destructive, but antithetical to President Tinubu’s foreign investment drive, thereby undermining the dream and goal of the office of the Chairman of Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission, Dr. Abike Dabiri and Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, the Minister of Trade and Investment in Nigeria, who have constantly encouraged Nigerians living in the diaspora to return home and invest in the country’s developmental and economic initiatives most especially that of Mr. President.
“As an active member, board of directors for the AfricaCanada Global Trade and Investment in Nigeria, we are constantly preaching to Nigerians in the diaspora to remember that Nigeria is all we’ve got and as such we need to bring our investment back home.
“The minister has with his actions hampered efforts to convince Nigerians living in the diaspora to come back and invest in the country.
“The situation surrounding the demolition of WinHomes Estate is deeply concerning and raises serious questions.”
“On October 3, 2024, I was shocked to discover that HiTech had sent its staff to come and peg our property for demolition without prior notice. I went to brief Mr. Femi Falana, SAN and he put a call through to the minister, where the minister on his honour promised Mr. Falana that he will come to Lagos the upper week to discuss the issues surrounding the pegging.
“To our astonishment, on October 5, 2024, the Ministry of Works officials, accompanied by military personnel and Lagos state Taskforce officials, stormed our site and demolished Win Homes property, and also assaulted our personnel on site. After which, they proceeded to remove essential building materials worth hundreds of millions claiming they had orders from above to do so.”
“This isolated attack and vendetta raises a lot of questions.
“As Diasporan Investors, we are not seeking financial compensation of any kind from the government, but rather appeal to the President to mandate the Minister of Works to revert to the 2006 gazetted alignment as we made sure proper and detailed due diligence was done before this property was purchased.”(Vanguard)
