Map of Plateau State
By CHRISTIAN LOT, Jos –
Plateau State Government officials have taken decisive action against illegal developers encroaching on government land, issuing a stern warning to those responsible.
The State government has made it clear that any structures built without proper approval will be demolished at the expense of the developers.
A recent crackdown targeted individuals, who were constructing buildings on government property situated at the Old Legislative Quarters, Bauchi Ring road, Jos.
State Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development, Joshua Laven, State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Musa Ashoms, General Manager of the Jos Metropolitan Development Board, Hart Bankat, and others visited the site and ordered work to be halted until the responsible party could be identified and permission documents presented.
Bankat emphasized the need for proper procedures to be followed before construction begins, highlighting the importance of obtaining building approval and appropriate titles from the Ministry of Lands and Survey.
He noted that despite a previous directive to cease work on the site, unauthorized construction continued at a rapid pace, prompting government intervention.
His words, “Nobody is above the law, this administration is not out to witch hunt anybody but for the right things to be done. It is standard practice that before you start any building, building approval has to be given after you have gotten your appropriate titles from the Ministry of Lands and Survey. Our attention was called when this construction work was about to start.
“We sent our men they came in sometime last week and marked for the work to be stopped. We came here with the Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development, Commissioner for Lands and Survey, and Commissioner for Information and Communication, after the Head of Service came to inquire who gave them the mandate. We begged them to stop work only for us to go for a weekend and on coming back, you can see the massive work being done here in just a few days.
“It is no longer business as usual. When we tell you to stop work, we mean stop work so we can verify. There is a greater Jos master plan which had been bastardized, we’re trying to implement that and bring sanity back to it but it’s unfortunate when people think they’re above the law and go ahead to do whatever they want to.
“It’s a crime in the first instance to build without approval. And then when the government identifies your building without approval and tells you to stop, you insist on doing it, it means you’re proving to us that you’re above the law, but I can assure you that we’re using this as a test run. Every single block you see here we’re bringing down and we’re here to pick the people who we’ve told to stop work but they have continued working.
“The full legal process will go on with them, we’re giving the owner just till tomorrow to take off all these blocks and come and take these people out and give us a reason why he is insisting on doing this. If he refuses then I can assure you the full-weight of government will be here to take the structure down tomorrow. This is a government layout, this is a football field. This is the basketball court and this squash court, the Civil Service club. Who would sell public facilities to individuals and then why are they in a hurry to build when we say they should stop?”
Laven reiterated the government’s commitment to enforcing the law and recovering land unlawfully claimed. He emphasized the need for compliance with regulations and issued a warning to those who flout the rules, stating that there is a new approach to governance in Plateau State.
