Demolition: FCTA to shelter 150 orphans dislogded in Kubwa

By Stanley Onyekwere

There is respite for 150 orphans of Divine Wounds of Jesus Christ Orphanage and Rehabilitation Home, Kubwa, Abuja, who were left stranded, following the demolition of their home in Kubwa, as the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) said it has almost concluded arrangement for the provision of a temporary accommodation for them.
It was gathered that the demolition exercise was carried out by officials of Dvelopment Control Department (DCD) of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) on Tuesday, for violating FCT Master plan.
According to the DCD’s Director, Muktar Galadima, explained that the demolition exercise earlier carried out by his men on the property, was because it completely failed to comply with development control requirements in the nation’s capital.
Galadima however disclosed that there is spirited effort to provide succur to the dislogded occupants, because the Administration was more concerned about the welfare of the children.
He spoke yesterday during a joint press briefing with the purported owner of the affected property in his office.
“In the beginning, we had sympathy and a kind heart for the children, and we are looking for a way forward for the children, on how to cushion their hardship by relocating them so that they do not feel that they are rejected by the society.
“That is why the most important thing at this moment is the welfare of those children, which we are working seriously on.
“We wnat to provide succour for them, by getting them a temporary accommodation, even if it is for one year, so that our children will have a safe place to stay; this is because this government has a human face. We hope to do that as soon as possible,” he assured.
Furthermore, the DCD boss maintained that the structure was demolished for not complying with regulations and for disregarding several stop work and other notices served on the property, which also included a demand for the production of title document for the property.
He said: “When we received this complaint of encroachment, we visited the site and served all the relevant notices beginning from stop work notice, quit notice to demolition notice, in line with our responsibility of ensuring strict implementation of the Abuja Master Plan.
“She did not submit any title document about the disputed property. If she had submitted, we would have put her title document together with that of the complainant and sent it to the department of Lands Administration to confirm who the rightful owner of the land was or is, because there are three plots she is sitting on.
“The issuing authority would now write us formally confirming the real owner of the land.”
The Director advised her to submit her documents so that it would forward tgem to the departments of Lands and the Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS) for them to determine the authenticity and ownership of the papers and property.
Meanwhile, the embattled owner of the orphanage, Bishop Victoria Nkiruka Ezemoka who was part of the joint press briefing surprised everyone by producing another title document for the same property, which the department claimed she failed to produce after several notices and demands.
According to her, trouble over ownership of the disputed property started immediately after her husband had died, following her brother-in-law’s claim for ownership of the landed property.
While she insisted that the case was still in court hence there was no need for further action by any of the parties, including Development Control Department, it said there was already a court judgement on the matter, which documented evidence were privy to indicated the case was dismissed due to absence of all parties in court.