The Benue Investment and Property Company (BIPC) said it recovered two landed assets owned by the state government that were sold out without legal approval.

The BIPC Group Managing Director, Dr Raymond Asemakaha, made the disclosure on Wednesday in Makurdi when he led a team to the sites to retrieve the lands and secure them.

Mr Asemakaha said that both lands were purchased on November 2 and October 12, 2016, respectively, adding that when a full forensic audit was carried out, it was discovered that the lands were purchased by BIPC, but the account where the money was moved was closed down.

The GMD said BIPC made a proxy investment but never saw any return on investment for the lands, as the account was closed after the transaction.

He added that the details of the fraud were discovered when BIPC reopened the account.

He stated, “The EFCC is currently on the matter to close that account, which is why we have to put our presence here, as the lands were about to be sold, and we would not allow that to happen.

“If you are making an investment for the state, you should make an investment that would yield a return; instead, the money was moved from the proxy account in pretence for investment in favour of BIPC.

“We are going to clamp down on the banks that have a hand in the land issue as soon as possible to ensure that the state government and Benue citizens get justice.

“I am giving a very sound warning to anybody that wants to buy this land, as they would be doing so at their own risk because the land belongs to the Benue Government.”

He further stated that government assets on lease that were not performing would be taken very fast from those that have them and put to good use to be able to generate revenue for the state. 

(NAN)