The Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, has demolished over six hundred illegal structures in Zamani village a suburb of the nation’s capital, Abuja.
While reiterating that local chief do not have the right to sell land and people should stop buying land from them to avoid demolition.
The Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring Inspection and Enforcement to the minister of FCT, Ikahro Attah, gave the hint while speaking to journalists after the exercise in Abuja Nigeria s capital.
According to the Minister Aide, “For me I don’t think I can quantify the house, there are Development Control workers who are taking note but I can say over 600 illegal structures were pulled down.
“The Minister has issued that warning times without number, we paying a Kobo, they have gone against the urban and regional planning acts. They have violated the law. It cost the administration money, hours and manpower to clear them.
“We are not paying any compensation because they violated the law building illegal structures. We are not done with Zamani community, we have a city to protect. Someone came to offer bribe and the man spoke a language close to my own I refused, later the indigenous people came and claim the house is theirs but I said no because someone already came to offer me bribe and I refused.
“No chief has right to sell land. Even the ones Area councils allocated always go back to FCDA for recertification. All the Chiefs even denied selling lands, they said they never sold land, we met them about three weeks ago and said the land that were sold by people who are farming and the people farming said the land they sold were their farm land. And they turned their farmland into house that has no building plans”.
The SSA noted, “What is really painful is that we suspended work on Monday in order to allow people to pack but most of them did not do what they should have done. Some persons are thinking Government is not serious but they should have known that FCT Minister is really committed in restoring the Abuja Master plan, especially to rid Abuja of illegal structures”.
The Director, Department of Development Control, TPL Murkhtar Galadima, warned staff of the department against taking any bribe from any person, noting that he will not hesitate to use the civil service rule.
“Today, we have worked more than two days ago obviously and today we have over 615 illegal structures that were removed.
“I have been hearing from some people that they allegedly contributed N100, 000 to stop their houses being demolished but the work still went on. Anyone who gives or collect money is at his own risk because we will still do our jobs“‘ he noted.
One of the victims, Mr Bamidele Taiwo explained that he bought the land seven years ago from the Chief, “My house was affected even now all my family are outside with all my luggage.
“We later heard that it is people that didn’t settle them that they are demolishing their houses.
“It is the indigenes that are pointing to houses for demolition. Some the house that were not demolished are not for indigenes”.
Bolaji Ganiyu, who is also a resident of Zamani that was affected by the demolition said, “I bought land from the Chief of Zamani for N100, 000 and didn’t tell us about indigene or non-indigene.
Now they removed our houses and all our properties are outside. When the house was marked we went to meet the Chief the Chief told us to meet Chief of Jiwa and we went to meet him and we even went to Human Right Radio for them to plead on our behalf to give us at least 6 month notice but they refused”.
Dominica Nwabufo
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