The Head of the Inspector-General of Police, Monitoring Team, Force Headquarters, Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr Akin Fakorede, freshly promoted, has made a controversial claim on the ownership of the disputed River Park Estate in Abuja, a step which undermines the ministerial committee recently inaugurated by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, on the matter.
Fakorede’s ownership claim, contained in a letter he wrote to some FCT agencies and obtained by SaharaReporters on Friday, also flouted the directive of the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, who had directed a further probe into the matter.
SaharaReporters learnt that the IGP Egbetokun in July ordered a reopening of investigations into the long-simmering dispute over the River Park Estate in Abuja.
The development was made public on July 20, 2025, in a widely publicised media interview between Force PRO ACP Muyiwa and a media house, when he confirmed that the IGP had directed a fresh probe into the matter during a meeting with the parties held at Force Headquarters on July 2nd, 2025.
Police sources told SaharaReporters that the move was long anticipated given the review of the Special Investigation Panel (SIP) reports.
The SIP report provided a thorough, evidence-based analysis and contradicts the now-controversial conclusions reached by Fakorede’s monitoring unit.
“But in a brazen and unprecedented move, Fakorede has launched a covert bid to undermine the Ministerial Committee recently inaugurated by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike on the estate,” a source told SaharaReporters.
Documents obtained by SaharaReporters revealed that on August 7, 2025, Fakorede issued a letter (Ref: IGP MONITORING UNIT/ABJ/VOL.79/25) to the Director of Land Administration, instructing that all official dealings concerning River Park be directed solely to Odili’s company, Paulo Homes Nigeria Limited.
The letter, also copied to the Director of AGIS, the Director of Development Control, and Odili himself, appears designed to pre-empt and predetermine the outcome of the committee’s work.
This directive flies directly in the face of Minister Wike’s public caution during the committee’s inauguration just days earlier.
As reported widely in August 2025, Wike stressed that “The Committee must be shielded from vested interests.”
Fakorede’s letter, coming before the committee’s first sitting, represents a clear attempt to insert vested interests into the process.
“Also, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Fagbemi’s review is still ongoing. There is already correspondence from the Attorney General’s office directing the Police to act on matters relating to the dispute pending review. Fakorede’s move, therefore, is not just insubordination; it is open defiance of Nigeria’s chief law officer.”
Fakorede’s interference letter, hence, suggested either desperation or a calculated move to launder a disputed claim through bureaucratic channels, sources informed SaharaReporters.
The top sources informed SaharaReporters that the police authorities must “immediately suspend Fakorede from any role related to the River Park case by the Inspector General of Police.”
It would be recalled that the meeting by the IGP on July 2, 2025, provided clarity on the role of the police in the estate matter.
The IGP had reaffirmed that the Nigeria Police Force had no legal authority to investigate or adjudicate land disputes or company ownership, as the matters fall exclusively under the jurisdiction of the courts.
Furthermore, the IGP was briefed by CP Akin Fakorede, who admitted that investigations concerning allegations of forgery remain incomplete and under active review by the Attorney-General’s office.
He acknowledged that further witness testimonies were still pending. SaharaReporters shall be monitoring activities of the Committee as it commences its mandate as defined by the Honourable Minister of the FCT, Excellency Nyemeson Wike.
Culled from Saharareporters. https://saharareporters.com/2025/08/16/head-igp-team-fakorede-plots-undermine-fct-ministers-committee-probing-river-park-estate
