By Lizzy Chirkpi
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Administration has commenced the demolition of mansions and other structures built on waterways in Abuja, days after the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, warned that no property owner, including senators and other influential Nigerians, would be spared.
The demolition exercise began in Maitama on Tuesday, following Wike’s directive during an inspection of flood-affected areas in the nation’s capital.
The minister had vowed to remove buildings obstructing designated water channels, directing relevant FCT authorities to commence enforcement and complete the exercise within the stipulated period.
Speaking after inspecting some of the affected areas, Wike said the recent flooding had exposed the extent to which illegal developments had obstructed natural water channels designated under the Abuja Master Plan.
“We will demolish all those houses found on the water channel. Some of them are senators. Some of them are big men,” Wike said.
He insisted that political status or ongoing political activities would not prevent the government from enforcing planning regulations.
“Whether there’s an election or there’s no election, all those houses will go down. Heaven will not fall. Rather, heaven will be at peace that the right thing has been done,” he declared.
Wike said the inspection showed that some property owners had deliberately obstructed channels designated for the movement of stormwater.
“Unfortunately, we have gone there, and we have seen how people have blocked channels where, in the Master Plan, that is the right way where the water is supposed to be channelled,” he said.
According to the minister, most of the structures erected in areas not designated for development were owned by wealthy Nigerians rather than low-income residents.
“All those built-up areas that were not supposed to be built up, not a single poor person will live there. Those houses are houses built by well-to-do Nigerians,” Wike said.
While acknowledging the impact of climate change and unusually heavy rainfall, Wike said human activities had also contributed significantly to the flooding witnessed across parts of Abuja.
“We are in a climate change period. The kind of rains we have experienced, or we are experiencing now, we have not experienced before. But that is not that there are no man-made factors. There are,” he said.
He identified construction on waterways, blocked drainage channels and indiscriminate dumping of refuse as some of the factors worsening flooding in the FCT.
Wike also directed relevant agencies of the FCT Administration to intensify the desilting of drainage channels and take steps to restore blocked waterways to improve the flow of stormwater.
The ongoing demolition in Maitama marks the implementation of the minister’s warning that structures found obstructing designated waterways would be removed, regardless of the status or influence of their owners.
The exercise is part of the FCT Administration’s broader efforts to restore waterways, improve drainage and mitigate the impact of flooding across Abuja.