Flooding In Nigeria And Way Forward

Less than a week ago, the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) granted judgment in favour of residents of Trademore Estate, restraining the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), from continuing its planned demolition of the estate described as a natural passageway of floods.

Justice Zubairu Mohammed of the High Court of the FCT at Jikwoyi, last Wednesday,  while ruling on an ex-parte application filed by the estate through its team of lawyers led by Mike Ozekhome, granted an interim injunction, restraining the FCTA and its employees, agents, officials, privies, and all those purporting to be acting for them or deriving title from them, and any other persons, of whatever nomenclature from trespassing or further trespassing, demolishing or further demolishing Trademore Estate, known as Plot 1981, Sabon Lugbe, Abuja.

It will be recalled that the estate has been experiencing disastrous flooding which has been ravaging the area annually, for more than four years, claiming lives and property, without the FCTA finding any lasting solution to it, until the administration decided to demolish the estate to ensure free passage of imminent flood, and prevent it from affecting other nearby estates.

However, with current development between the estate and the FCTA, the rising questions  on the minds of estate’s residents are, ‘what is the way forward and the solution to the ravaging flooding? What danger does the court injunction portend in the wake of the ongoing rainy season?

A town planner, Ms. Christie Anozie, said that although the residents may have been right to go to court and get the injunction, because most of them do not have where to move to, that is not the solution to the problem which has become a threat to the lives of the entire residents of the estate.

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“When a mistake is made from the beginning of planning an estate and it leads to natural disaster like floods, and nothing can be done, except you go back to the beginning and that is where the issue of demolition comes in.

“The mistakes have been made from the beginning by wrong planning of the estate without considering the topography of the land and the waterways.

“So, if that mistake need to be corrected, many houses built on waterways must go. So, I will say that getting a court injunction stopping the demolition is like postponing the evil days, and the people should be prepared for the worst, I am sorry to say,”  she said.

A resident of the estate, Mr. Simon Bala, appealed to the FCTA to look beyond the solution of demolishing the estate and find other lasting solution to the flood disaster, saying that most of them will not have where to move to permanently if the estate is demolished.