Akintayo Adaralegbe, Chief Executive Officer of T. Pumpy Concept Limited, has expressed surprise that the money paid to some Fulani in Abuja to resettle them following acquisition of land is being deliberately twisted and portrayed as empowering them to buy more arms.
He spoke at a press a conference in Abuja in reaction to a video being circulated online.
Recall that no fewer than 52 Fulani households were resettled from the plots of land recently acquired by T. Pumpy Concept ahead of development of a new estate.
T. Pumpy Concept is a leading estate developer in Abuja and owners of T. Pumpy Estates spread across the nation’s capital.
Adaralegbe, who was joined by the Chairman of the Fulani in the FCT, Alhaji Abubakar Suleiman, clarified: “My attention was drawn to a video going round that we are trying to give Fulani money to buy more ammunition.
“I want to tell you the information is false and it is from pit of hell.
“That is not what actually happened.
“We acquired plots of land we want to develop from the real allottees.
“After the acquisition of the plots, we have to settle the farmers by paying for the crops on the land.
“We found out that there are Fulani settlements on the land.
“We believe on humanitarian ground that we can’t just pursue them like that.
“According to the Fulani that I met there, they said they have been there for over three decades (30 years).
“They said they are ready to move and we agreed to settle them per plot.
“We agreed to pay N200,000 per plot.
“That was what happened.”
Suleiman corroborated the story narrated by T. Pumpy boss, saying it was an agreement reached to promote peaceful co-existence.
T. Pumpy estates are spread across Lugbe, Guzape, Wasa, Kuje, Wawa, Karasana and Kwali and Katanpe districts in the FCT.