FCTA Uncovers Illegal Estates Along Idu Train Station, Apo, Lugbe

The Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, has lamented the proliferation of illegal housing estates and other developments along Idu Train Station, Apo Tapi and Lugbe areas within the Abuja Municipal Area Council, AMAC.

The Director, Department of Development Control, FCTA, Mukhtar Galadima, spoke at a news briefing on Friday in Abuja.

He said the alarm became necessary due to the spike in adverts on social media by land grabbers and illegal developers of housing estates.

Mr 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 have not yet been detailed with design layout, decrying, ”but people are carrying fake title documents that they were allocated by AMAC.”

Mr Galadima said it was against the development rules and regulations to chage building plans without seeking an approval to modify it.

He said 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.

Mr Galadima also said that developers of illegal structures and land grabbers would be made to pay for the cost of demolition and afterwards be handed over to Police for diligent prosecution.

The director said: “Our attention has been drawn to some areas of the city where people are developing without any title developments.

”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 plan and approval, to enable them develop 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 for 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. ”

Mr 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 ” these are illegal developments.

”And we have served all relevant notices, so, at the appropriate time, we are going to remove them.”