Task Force uncovers illegal allocation of govt lands, properties in Plateau

The Task Force on Recovery of Purported Auctioned Government Property set up by the Plateau State Government has uncovered illegal allocations of government lands and buildings in some local government areas, especially within Jos North and Jos South councils.

It added that through its interactions with the MDAs, especially Jos Metropolitan Development Board (JMDB), about 5,000 properties are due for demolition due to a lack of adequate documentation.

Addressing newsmen in Jos, the Chairman of the Task Force, Nde Isaac Wadak, said these properties have either not been properly documented or have been illegally allocated or sold.

He said, “On vehicles, the task force was furnished with a comprehensive list of vehicles bought by the government between 2015 and 2023. the status and whereabouts of these vehicles are clearly captured, including the procedure guiding boarding of vehicles and the category of officers qualified to be allocated vehicles at the end of their tenure”.

According to him, through interface with the MDAs, the task force has received inventories and reports of all landed property, equipment, and moveable and immovable assets, including vehicles and machinery. Also, received valuable information from the general public concerning individuals who may be in custody of government property illegally.

He, therefore, advised those in possession of allocated/ boarded or auctioned government property to furnish the task force with evidence adding that those with the property that are at various stages of development should equally stop until this exercise is completed.

“This is not about witch hunting, if we are to go by the unverified messages and information we are receiving from some of the whistle-blowers, Plateau State would have been on fire by now. We want to authenticate all this information to ensure that we submit an accurate and authentic report to the state government.

“We want to authenticate everything, that is why we are taking our time. As the vehicles carted away,  we have started recovering them because we have the figure from the office of Secretary to the State Government,” he said.

He reiterated that this exercise is not meant to witch hunt anyone but to safeguard the collective patrimony of plateau people and implored the public to discountenance any information that is not coming directly from the task force.