The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), on Monday in Abuja intensified efforts towards the removal of all illegal structures at Guzape to clear the city of shanties.
Mr Ihkaro Attah, the Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement to the FCT Minister, while coordinating demolition of illegal structures in the area, vowed that the exercise would continue during and after the yuletide.
Attah warned residents against buying illegal lands from local Chiefs and Abuja natives, who do not have the right to allocate or sell land to anyone.
He said that it was only the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello, who has the constitutional power to allocate land in the nation’s capital.
Attach said: “We came here today to actually continue from where we stopped because some persons in the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) informed us that we haven’t finished the job.
” The one at Kobi village in Guzape II, all the illegal houses and structures on the road corridors were all removed today in order to give way to the infrastructural work that is ongoing in that area.
“The main Guzape I village here, we are trying to remove the illegal structures, shanties and all encroachment.
“We warned the non indigenes to stop buying land from the locals, the locals are up, you can see the village up there, they are in their respective homes watching what is ongoing.”
Attah said that the FCTA had earlier marked the area for removal to bring sanity to Guzape.
” When we came here none indigenes thought the locals will come and tell us where to remove and where not to remove, the locals are in their houses and those who bought land from them are crying.
” The FCT Minister, Bello has asked us to clear and pave way for the infrastructural work that is ongoing in the area.
“We will be working deep into the Christmas and probably ‘during’ Christmas and ‘after’ the Christmas,” Attach said.
Reacting to the development, one of those affected, Mr Amos Jacob, said he bought the land about two years ago for N120, 000 from the indigenes and moved in 2021.
He said:”I built here in Kobi Sarki. I built about two years ago. I bought 25/30, at N120,000, nobody told me that the land is illegal.
” I bought the land from the indigenes and they gave me a paper from Madaki house and it was the Emir that signed the paper they gave to me. I even paid for the signing of the paper, I paid N3,000
“I started building in 2020 and I parked in 2021, and I spent about N1 million to build the house and everything is gone now”.
He decried that nobody informed them that the land was illegal,saying:”if they had told me, I wouldn’t have bought the land or build here. The locals are supposed to tell us that they will still demolish the buildings.” (NAN)
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