The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has demolished over 25 illegal structures under construction in Katampe Extension estate, and shanties in Karasana community of the FCT, in its continuation of the cleanup of the city.
The director of the Department of Development Control, Muktar Galadima, while speaking to journalists after the demolition at Katampe extension, expressed disappointment at the rate at which estate developers grab lands in Abuja, saying that it is unacceptable.
He explained that they were sent by the administration to demolish some houses in the affected estate known as Ideal Grace estate which has no valid documents and that they demolished over 10 houses and over 15 foundations.
“You see, initially this developer, Ideal Grace in partnership acquired 17 hectares of land, and later one of the partners claimed to have been allocated extra 39 hectares of land, it is the extension to the original allocation, which is not real.
“So having served him notices and given him time to comply, there was no compliance. We had to come here to enforce the notice. All estate developers in FCT must comply with all status provisions including Development Control manuals, district land use plan, as well as guidelines governing development in FCT,” he said.
The director of the Department of Development Control further said that FCTA has declared war against all land grapplers in Abuja and that it is a war they have started and would be sustained.
During the demolition at Karasana community, a machine part dealer, in Karasana area, Frank Samuel, accused some of the FCTA officials of coming to collect money from them on regular basis with the promise to prevent the demolition of the area.
“They came to demolish our structures when we were not around. What they did is not fair to us. Government should help us because what we are doing here is legitimate. Nobody notified us, they only come once in a while to collect money, even yesterday they collected N1500 from us. If there is any way they can compensate us, we will appreciate it,” he said.
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