By Salisu Sani-Idris, Abuja.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has lamented the proliferation of illegal housing estates and other property developments at Idu Train Station, Apo Tapi and Lugbe areas within the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).
Mr Mukhtar Galadima, Director, Department of Development Control, FCTA, made the observation at a news conference on Friday in Abuja.
He said that the alarm became necessary due to the surge of adverts on the social media by land grabbers and illegal developers of housing estates.
Galadima said: “Already, the department had served all relevant notices and had marked the structures, which at the appropriate time; its officials are going to embark on a massive removal.”
He said that the affected areas had not yet been detailed with design layout, moaning that “people are carrying fake title documents that they were allocated by AMAC.”
Galadima also said that it was against urban development rules and regulations to change building plans without seeking prior approval to modify the plans.
He stressed that with the constitution of FCT Urban and Planning Tribunal, land grabbing and other forms of abuses would be reduced, as defaulters would be prosecuted.
Galadima also said that developers of illegal structures and land grabbers would be made to pay for the cost of demolition, while they would afterwards be handed over to police for prosecution.
He said: “Our attention has been drawn to some areas of the city where people are developing without any title for development.
“And we want to educate the public and to inform them that some of these adverts are on illegal developments.
“As the Department of Development Control in FCT, we found it expedient to adequately inform the citizens on the need to secure building plans and approvals, to enable them develop their property, in line with what has been approved.
“We know that in the course of implementing development proposals, there are rooms for modifications, adjustments and the wisest thing to do is to resubmit the design.
“This is in order to seek an approval before changing any aspect of the approved plan. Failure to do so is an apparition of what was really approved for the developer. ”
Galadima reiterated that the department had served demolition notices to all illegal developers along the Idu Train Station, Apo Tapi and Lugbe Areas, where ”people were busy spending money.”
He cautioned unsuspecting Nigerians against subscribing to the housing estates, saying that “these are illegal developments.
“And we have served all relevant notices; so, at the appropriate time, we are going to remove them.”
