By Marcus Ikechukwu
The federal capital territory administration (FCTA) has warned residents of Idu Train Station, Apo Tapi, and Lugbe areas of the Abuja metropolitan area council (AMAC) about the proliferation of unlawful housing estates and other development.
The FCTA’s Department of Development Control (DDC) said that it has already served notifications, marked the structures, and is preparing to launch a significant removal operation when the time is right.
Mukhtar Galadima, DDC director during a press conference on Friday, said that the removal became imperative because of the escalating advertisements on social media by land grabbers and illegal developers of housing estates.
Galadima hinted that these areas have not yet been detailed with design layout, but people are carrying fake title documents that it is been allocated by AMAC.
He added that it is against the development rules and regulations for somebody while in the course of implementing his or her plan to change it without recourse to seeking approval for a modified plan.
He further stated that with the constitution of the FCT Urban and Planning Tribunal, land grabbing and other menaces will be reduced, as there would be prosecution of defaulters.
He also hinted that developers of illegal structures and land grabbers will be made to pay for the cost of demolition and afterward be handed over to the police for diligent prosecution.
“Our attention has been drawn to some areas of the city where people are developing without any title developments. And we want to educate the public and to inform them that some of these adverts are on illegal developments,” Galadima said,
“As the department of Development Control in FCT, we found it expedient to adequately inform the citizens on the need to secure building plan and approval, to enable them to develop in line with what is being approved”.
