Landuse abuse: Over 200 structures demolished in Iddo Sarki Community

By Stanley Onyekwere

Following alleged land encroachment and distortion of Abuja Masterplan, no fewer than two hundred commercial and residential structures were at the weekend demolished in Iddo Sarki Community, one of the densely populated indigenous settlements, along the corridors of the busy Umaru Musa Yar’Adua expressway, in the nation’s capital city.

In particular, mostly affected structures were unoccupied and occupied completed students’ lodges, roofed and linteled buildings under construction on the land area allegedly allocated to the Nigerian Navy.

Also, a standard hotel, worship Centres, shopping malls and other makeshift structures were pulled down by two FCTA bulldozers during a removal exercise that lasted for about eight hours, in the settlement, situated adjacent the University of Abuja’s main campus.

Our correspondent reports that a combined team of FCT Ministerial Committee on City Sanitation, Department of Development Control (DDC), Department of Security Services and other relevant agencies, carried out the exercise, in line with a standing Ministerial directive to remove every building contraventions and environmental nuisances in the nation’s capital city.

Explaining the exercise, Acting Director, FCTA Department of Development Control, Garba Kwamkur, said the FCT Administration was not happy with what was going on along the corridors of village, and had to take such measures to tackle it.

Kwamkur said its officials had issued several abatement notices and carried a lot of markings, as well as sensitised people to stop all illegal developments, which they ignored in the area.

He reiterated that the FCT Act that created Abuja had spelt out that whatever building anyone is putting up within the FCT, the developer must receive a plan permit from the Department of Development Control, which the affected people ignored, and continued to build unabated.

“We met the village Chief and Youth leaders where we made it clear to them on the need to receive building permit before any expansion, which they have not followed.

“Abuja is a planned city, and all these encroached areas have been long allocated, and part of the land in this village have been allocated to the Nigerian Navy, and they lodged complaint against the encroachment that has happened.

“Our work is a continuous process, as we are paid to monitor and control  developments in the FCT, so we will keep monitoring and ensuring that what is put upon this land would have to be according to approved building plans”, he stressed.

On his part, Chairman of the Ministerial Committee on City Sanitation, Comrade Ikharo Attah, who expressed shock and sadness about what he described as extreme illegality in the area, attributed the escalation of the situation to its proximity to the University of Abuja’s main campus.

According to him: “It’s is very pathetic, sad and worrisome that Abuja is going this bad. So, the FCT Minister gave us a marching order to clear these illegal structures, to send a strong signal to others to desist from doing so.

“Many persons here thought that because University of Abuja had moved to its main campus, it is now an opportunity for them to sell whatever land they see to other persons.

“You can imagine somebody building a house worth multiple millions of Naira on a land obtained with just an agreement signed on a full scalp sheet of paper. That’s an aberration.

“And everyone we met that are affected here have not told us that they had any approved allocation showing their legal title to any land.

“It’ss very sad that people can put in money to develop a land gotten on an agreement they signed on a full scalp sheet of paper; not even on an AMAC; not even on an AGIS land”.

He however advised estate developers who are bent on providing students’ lodge to approach the management of University Abuja to allocate land space within the premises of the institution, through partnership or otherwise.