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Eseme Eyiboh, the House of
Representatives spokesperson, whose Abuja private residence was
vandalised by about 30 policemen last week, said his refusal to sell
the property to a senator, Mohammed Hassan Gusau, prompted the senator
to invade his home with some policemen.

Mr. Eyiboh, who described the incident
as religiously-motivated, told journalists on Tuesday, at a press
conference in Abuja, that Mr. Gusau, a senator from Zamfara State,
approached him shortly after he bought the property in 2008 from the
administrators of late Sheik Mujaddadi, asking to buy it over from him
because it was built in an Islamic way.

He said the senator promised to give
him about 200 percent more than the cost he (Eyiboh) purchased the
property, located at 7, Iyamoye Close, Area11, Garki, but that he
refused to yield to his pressure because he had built the house to his
taste and it accommodates a chapel.

He added that Mr. Gusau, apparently
dissatisfied, went to Jigawa State and obtained a judgement from a
Sharia Court, which he took to an Upper Area Court, Gwagwalada, Abuja
for implementation, as part of his effort to dispossess him of the
property.

But Mr. Gusau denied the claim in a
telephone interview with journalists, saying he never met Mr. Eyiboh to
discuss how to buy over the property. Mr. Eyiboh, who brandished
documents with which he purchased the property, explained that he was
in the United States when his 20-year-old son sent him a text message
informing him that Mr. Gusau, accompanied by some policemen, had
invaded the property.

Insisting that he was not evicted, the
House spokesperson said his home was vandalised, though he is yet to
enter the property since he returned to Nigeria to take inventory of
the things taken away.

Mr. Eyiboh said he might file a suit
against Mr. Gusau for forcefully throwing out his movable properties
from the house while he was away.

He said the execution of the order was
a clear violation of the Law, as his property was vandalised, even when
he was not forewarned. He insisted that the house remained his, as long
as he was in possession of the Certificate of Occupancy and other
papers on the said property. The lawmaker also said his name was not
listed on the order of the Federal Capital Territory High Court on
which Mr. Gusau and the court bailiffs acted, and neither was he joined
in the Jigawa’s case.

He argued that even if he was joined in
the Jigawa suit, the Sharia Court in that state does not have
jurisdiction over Abuja matters.

The House spokesperson said that the
vandalisation of his property in the effort to force him and his family
out should attract the attention of the security services in the
country as well as the judiciary.

Relating to ‘small boy’

But Mr. Gusau insisted to journalists that he did not approach Mr. Eyiboh over the property.

“There was never a time I called him
(Eyiboh) for a meeting to say that I will pay him 200 percent of the
property’s price in order to sell it to me. I swear there was never a
time I did that.

“The issue is not a religious one. It
is about business and everybody has his money. Nigeria is one country
and Abuja is one. Both Christians and Muslims have the right to possess
any property. I think it is guilty conscience that is pricking him and
he has no basis for making that allegation.”

The senator explained that he bought
the house two months after he was sworn-in, “and I have all written
agreements for the transaction and I paid to three administrators of
the property who signed for me. But he (Eyoboh) said that only two
administrators signed for him and in Law, three is greater than two.
What he is saying does not make sense at all.”

On the vandalisation of Mr. Eyiboh’s
residence last Friday, Mr. Gusau said he was not in Abuja when the
policemen and court bailiffs went to the property.

“I did not lead the squad, go and ask the court. I don’t join issues
with Eyiboh because he is a small boy. I cannot disclose how much I
paid. If he claimed to have bought the house, he should produce all the
documents and receipts,” he said. “I paid to all the administrators and
agents in Jigawa and the money has been given to the owners of the
property.”