The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on Monday mobilized its bulldozers to demolish a section of Citiscape Villa, a high-end estate nestled in the Guzape District.
This enforcement was a consequence of the estate’s violation of critical building codes and its encroachment upon designated waterways.
Overseeing the demolition operation on Monday, Felix Obuah, the Coordinator of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, stated that the developer had illegally transformed waterways and green areas into saleable plots, deceiving individuals who purchased them.
Furthermore, he clarified that the developer had demonstrably deviated from the originally granted building permit.
“The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, will not allow anyone to sabotage developmental efforts in the city,” he said.
Obuah warned that any government official found to be part of these illegal actions with the developer would be punished according to civil service rules.
Also, the Director of the Department of Development Control, Mukhtar Galadima, said the developer had ignored several stop-work notices served on him.
Galadima said the enforcement team has stepped up its monitoring activities to prevent further violations by developers.
Reacting, Kadiri Ogbaidi, the developer and owner of the estate, admitted that the estate deviated from the approved plans by the Department of Development Control, but he shifted some blame to the estate’s subscribers, who he claimed built on designated green areas.
He said: “You know it is an estate, so we have approval for the entire estate. But there have been many infractions here, mostly from our subscribers, whom we are responsible for. So, we won’t deny any wrongdoing. We take responsibility.
“We will remove every infraction here as specified by the authority. And we will take them out ourselves. We will bear the cost. So, we just appeal that the authority should allow us at least two weeks. We will start breaking them down.
“We will take them down ourselves. We have been law-abiding, and we have never had issues with the authority before.”
Persecondnews recalls that on Wednesday, April 30, the FCTA cautioned residents of flood-prone Lokogoma in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) and other FCT residents to stop building on waterways or drainage channels to prevent recurring deadly floods in the area.
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