Developers warn against purchasing shops at Apo scheme market amidst Court Order

Our Correspondent reports that a ‘Stop Work’ by an FCT High Court Order with Suit No. FCT/HC/467/2024, was boldly written on the walls, while documents of the Interlocutory Order was also pasted on the property by the court bailiff on Monday, 28th April, 2025.

The construction of the market located at Apo Resettlement Centre, behind the FCT High Court, was said to have been a subject of disputes between two real estate developers, Techs & Concretes Nigeria Ltd and Manillah Integrated Partners Ltd.

Addressing Journalists at the construction site, the Project Manager of Techs & Concretes Nigeria Ltd, Ameh Kennedy Gabriel, said there was a sworn affidavit in the FCT High Court that the shops at the Apo Resettlement Scheme Market have not been sold to anybody.

Gabriel said the court has granted an interlocutory injunction, stopping every work in the site pending the determination of the substantive matter.

While commending the Judiciary for its unreserved commitment to resolving the disputes, which partly is the ‘Stop Work Order’, Gabriel said they (Techs & Concretes) will wait patiently for the final judgment of the court.

“The court has given Order and we are here to tell the world that the construction of this market here has been put on hold.

“We are speaking in line with the Court’s Order that has been placed within the premises. We are legal people, we are not going to do anything illegal here.

“The Order has just been pasted, informing Nigerians that there is no construction work that will continue here henceforth.

“As far as the statutes of the court are concerned, no shop here has been sold to anybody. It’s the sworn affidavit that’s standing before the court”, he stated.

He emphasized that Manillah Integrated Partners Ltd must obey court Orders, stressing that nobody is above the law.

Giving a brief background of how the disputes began, the Managing Director of Techs & Concretes, Dr. Shuaibu Omeiza Musari, said, “Over a year ago, Manillah Integrated Partners approached Techs & Concrete over this project – to finance and take it over from AMAC based on the fact that the project was given to a contractor before, but the contractor could not go ahead.

“The idea was that we are the builders and sole marketers of this project which is contained in our agreement. We obliged with the agreement and took over the project.

“Unfortunately, after all said and done, to the biggest of our surprise, for us to move to the site we started noticing some funny moves – Mannila Integrated trying to shove us away.

“When we tried to engage them and make them understand we had a document to this effect. They felt they could manipulate it. So, they ran to the court thinking they could hide under the judiciary, while the project was still going on. We responded back to them in the court.

“And the court looked at the merits and demerits of the matter and decided that it’s very important to stop the ongoing work on the project”.

Dr. Musari explained that Manillah Integrated, in their sworn affidavit lied to the court that they have not started selling the shops, whereas they have heard from reliable sources that it has been selling.

He noted that in the face of the law, whoever has put his money on the property has done so at his/her risk, because before the court the shops have not been sold.

“I will not like to talk much about it because the case is still ongoing in court, but for now this project will stop moving. Nobody is expected to put a single block on this project based on the Order we have received from the court”, he added.