After brawl with Dangote, Kogi Assembly goes after BUA group

Kogi State House of Assembly on Monday summoned the cement manufacturing firm, BUA Group, over a 50,000-hectare land it acquired 10 years ago.

The lawmakers gave the summons at a public hearing of one of its ad hoc committees held at a hotel in Lokoja since its complex was gutted by fire penultimate Monday.

Deputy Speaker Alfa Momoh-Rabiu, who read the summons after listening to the acting surveyor-general, Salihu Mustapha, said:

“We are having a problem with the Bua Group over 50,000 hectares of land it acquired in 2012 and even obtained a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) but has not paid a kobo for the land. We have written to the group several times, but it has not responded to any of the letters.

READ ALSO:Shareholders knock Kogi govt, say action on Dangote Cement, dangerous for investment

“No compensation has been paid to the communities that own the expanse of land,” Mustapha said.

Umar Tenimu, the ad hoc committee chairman, said it was an offence for BUA Group to hold the land for more than 10 years without paying for it.

He added that if BUA Group refused to pay for the land and compensate the community, the government should revoke its Certificate of Ownership.

When contacted, BUA spokesman Sunday Ogieva said he could not comment on the issue.

This latest development is coming on the heels of a brawl between the Kogi State government and the Dangote group over the Obajana Cement plant. The state government had invaded the Obajana plant and closed down the complex over an ownership tussle with the Dangote group.

A number of workers had been injured in the ensuing fracas, as the state government was said to have used thugs to carry out the bombardment.

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