The Federal Government of Nigeria has cautioned illegal occupants of lands of Premium Steel and Mines Limited, formerly Delta Steel Company Limited, Ovwian-Aladja, Delta State to vacate the premises without further delay, per Congress News.
The threat is coming on the heels of the government’s moves to develop the steel company as the largest integrated steel complex in sub-Sahara Africa.
According to the report, those patronizing desperate vendors and building on the company’s and other government lands risks losing their investments as the Federal Government is poised to commence to reclaim the lands soon.
According to a statement by the Director of Legal Affairs, Premium Steel and Mines Limited, Barr Emmanuel Agbaje; ‘all the lands on both sides and around the expressway from Igbiki and NBTC Junction to the Steel Plant are for the Federal Government and the aim is to develop and expand the Delta Steel Company’.
He further revealed that there are subsisting courts injunctions barring land speculators from trespassing on the aforementioned property and that very soon, action shall be taken against those building on the land.
Barr Agbaje also said that Premium Steel and Mines Limited, had on several occasions, warned land speculators from encroaching on those lands as they belong to the Federal Government and that whoever ignores warnings will soon face the music.
The statement further added, “As we stated in our earlier warnings, the Federal Government which acquired those land did not at any time release the land to anybody for sale to land speculators.
“Those running from one court to the other in search of judicial pronouncement to back their sinister activities should understand that when the Federal Government bulldozers start pulling down those structures, PSML should not be blamed for the loss of their investment. They shall surely reap the whirlwind in due course.
“We are repeating these warnings so nobody would blame us when things start happening. Our newspaper publications and advertorials at huge cost to us will stand as witnesses against the trespassers. Nobody is above the law. However good your case is, if you flout valid court orders there must be consequences.
“It can take five, ten or even twenty years for the government to act. Act they must someday and when the bulldozers start coming, ignorance of the real owner (Federal Government of Nigeria) will not spare the illegally acquired property from the bulldozers.
“Government is already aware of the situation and it may act anytime soon. Buildings as tall as ten-storey edifices have been brought down by government bulldozers in Abuja, Lagos and other parts of the country.
“Let me repeat for the umpteenth time, stay away from DSC lands in and around the steel plant and other locations in Delta state so as not to lose your investments. Government is aware of the dubious activities of those encroaching on the lands and very soon, the federal government will come and take over that which they already acquired many years ago.”he added.