There is palpable tension in the popular Games Village Estate in Abuja as residents of the estate and some Lebanese nationals are currently at loggerheads over the planned construction of a church within the estate.
The crisis between the two groups have led to the Lebanese nationals blocking the gate of their estate. Speaking to newsmen today on the recent development, the Secretary of the Games Village Residents Association, Jude Uze, said;
“Lebanese community said they have approval from the authorities to build a church inside the estate and we said no. We don’t have Lebanese community in the estate, who are those that will be attending the church, we don’t know. This morning they just came in and they brought in a container claiming that development control have given them the authority to start work. They said they have been given the order that if they were not allowed access into the estate that they should block the access road to estate. That’s the container you are seeing, blocking the estate. The fact that we can’t access our estate is a big affront. Can we do this in Lebanon? Can a Nigerian do this in Lebanon?”.
The residents have alerted the police. Meanwhile the leader of the Lebanese community, Albert Alwan, said they had to resort to blocking the entrance of the estate after they were denied access into it.
He said they have received the necessary approval from the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Mohammed Bello and the development control, for the construction of the church. He wondered why the estate residents would deny them access when they have government approval.