Residents Protest Sale of FHA Lugbe Access Road, Raise Concerns Over Security

“This is an access road. It is the only emergency exit that we have on this street. If this place is blocked, security-wise, we are in danger.” Residents cry out.

Residents of 1Q3 Road in the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) Estate, Lugbe, Abuja, have protested the alleged allocation and sale of part of their access road to a private developer, warning that the development could expose the community to serious security and environmental risks.

The residents, who staged a peaceful protest on Saturday, called on the FHA management to immediately halt construction on the road corridor, which they described as a critical access and emergency escape route for the densely populated neighbourhood.

Addressing journalists during the protest, a representative of the landlords and stakeholders of the street, Mazi Daniel Udogu Agbo, alleged that the development amounted to an arbitrary alteration of the estate’s approved master plan.

Agbo said the road corridor was originally designed to provide public access and also served as a natural pathway for stormwater, stressing that blocking it could worsen flooding, erosion and emergency access challenges in the area, especially to households residing in the road.

According to him, an independent environmental assessment conducted by Green Engagement Limited on July 31, 2026, confirmed that the corridor performs dual functions as a public access route and a stormwater drainage pathway.

He said the assessment identified evidence of surface runoff, erosion, sediment deposits and terrain depressions consistent with repeated stormwater movement through the corridor.

The residents claimed the assessment further warned that continued construction could divert stormwater into adjoining houses, accelerate erosion, undermine nearby infrastructure and obstruct emergency and utility access.

They therefore urged the FHA and relevant authorities to suspend the ongoing construction work on the site pending verification of the original approved layout of the estate.

Agbo also called for the publication of the original FHA Lugbe master plan to enable residents determine whether subsequent allocations conform with the approved layout.

He said, “We are not opposed to development. We are opposed to development carried out in defiance of an approved plan, at the expense of public safety and the rights of the very residents that the plan is designed to protect.”

The chairman of 1Q3 Road Residents’ Association, Godspower Daniel Musa, said the community became concerned after a developer allegedly appeared at the site and claimed that the road had been allocated to him by the FHA.

Musa said the residents subsequently petitioned the FHA through their lawyer but received no response.

He alleged that when residents attempted to follow up on the petition, they discovered that the file had moved through various departments within the FHA but could not subsequently be located.

According to him, the situation later became tense when construction materials were brought to the site and the area was barricaded.

Musa said the intervention of the police prevented the dispute from escalating into violence, adding that the Lugbe Divisional Police Officer had directed that construction should not continue pending clarification from the FHA.

He said the police had written to the FHA seeking clarification on the status of the allocation, but that the residents were still awaiting the authority’s response.

The residents’ chairman stressed that their greatest concern was the security implication of losing the road.

“This is an access road. It is the only emergency exit that we have on this street. If this place is blocked, security-wise, we are in danger,” he said.

Another resident, Opeyemi Ayediran, appealed to the FHA Chairman, Hon. Oyetunde Ojo, and members of the authority’s board to intervene in the matter.

Ayediran described the disputed corridor as a major access route for residents and argued that its blockage could also aggravate erosion and flooding affecting adjoining roads and properties.

“We are strongly appealing to them. This is our access road and an emergency access road. Please stop allocating illegal structures,” he said.

The residents demanded an independent audit of alterations allegedly made to the FHA Lugbe master plan and called for the reversal of any allocation found to have encroached on road reserves or drainage corridors.

They also demanded the restoration and proper engineering of the estate’s stormwater drainage infrastructure, as well as a transparent community consultation process before any future alteration of the master plan.

The residents said they were prepared to pursue legal and administrative remedies if the matter remained unresolved.

As of the time of the protest, the residents said they were yet to receive a formal response from the FHA on the status of the disputed allocation.