FCTA Orders Demolition Of Duplexes Built On Green Area

The Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) under the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has issued a 48-hour ultimatum for the demolition of more than 10 illegally constructed duplexes in Wumba District, near Apo in Abuja.

The directive was given by the AMMC Coordinator, Mr. Felix Obuah, on Thursday during a joint inspection tour of illegal construction sites across the city.

According to Obuah, the duplexes were built on designated green land without any form of authorisation or legal documentation.

He revealed that the Department of Development Control had earlier marked the buildings and instructed the developer to halt construction, but the orders were flagrantly ignored.

“When we invited the developer to provide legal documents for the activities he’s carrying out, we all discovered that there is no paper, no approval, no allocation.

“I asked him to stop working, but you can see that the work is still going on. So, all these properties that you are seeing here are all going down,” he said.

Obuah stressed that the FCT Administration would not tolerate any development that violates the Abuja Master Plan, saying that the only option left is demolition.

On his part, the Director of Development Control, Mr. Mukhtar Galadima, confirmed that the developer had no approvals and that the structures had been repeatedly marked at various stages of development.

He noted that more than 10 structures are involved, with some already roofed and others still under construction.

The Director of Development Control, Mr Mukhtar Galadima, also said that the developer has no approval from any authority.

“We didn’t give the developer any approval, and when you look around, you would see the evidence that we had marked these structures at different stages of development.

“Unfortunately, people don’t like to respect constituted authority and as I told my colleagues, the only language Nigerians understand is the language of bulldozers that will bring the structures down.

“We are looking at more than 10 structures, some are roofed, and some are not yet roofed.

“So, the development control will come with its bulldozers and in less than 48 hours everything here will go down,” he said.

Also, the Director of Parks and Recreation, Mr. Chidemelu Echee, condemned the encroachment on green areas, and noted that Abuja’s city plan was designed to harmonize nature with infrastructure.

“It is very unfortunate that people will come into a place like this and start a random destruction of the natural ecosystem without any authorisation.

“This is a disaster waiting to happen because when we talk about global warming of the entire system, this is part of it,” Echee said.

Similarly, the Director of Abuja Environmental Protection Board, Mr. Osilama Braimah, highlighted the environmental risks associated with illegal constructions.

He warned that replacing green areas with concrete structures leads to increased heat, reduced percolation, and a higher risk of flooding.

Braimah said, “When concrete covers everything, it prevents percolation, leading to increased flooding downstream.

“To mitigate this, we must preserve green areas to facilitate percolation, groundwater recharge, and maintain healthy boreholes and wells.”

The FCTA has reiterated its commitment to enforcing urban planning regulations and protecting Abuja’s environmental integrity.

FCTA Orders Demolition Of Duplexes Built On Green Area is first published on The Whistler Newspaper