By Angela Atabo
No fewer than 11 storey buildings made up of three and four bedroom flats were on Thursday, demolished in Apo-Dutse, by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).
Mr Mukhtar Galadima, Director, Department of Development Control, FCTA, said the development followed the failure of the developer to abide by building regulations and disregarded for all communications and notices.
Galadima also said that the demolition of the buildings became imperative in view of the location of the estate.
According to him, the estate is not only under a high tension, but also standing in the way of an upcoming bridge planned for the area.
He noted that though the developers were allocated the plot, but it was wrongly done.
He said that the developers had been offered opportunity for alternative allocation, adding that they were however yet to accept, but rather proceeded with the illegal development.
“This is a statutorily allocated plot. They requested for approval and applied for building plan approval, which we declined for the fact that it’s in close proximity to a high-tension line as well as a stream channel.
“So, we declined to grant approval, but they moved ahead to work.
“We have been serving notices, even from the excavation stage and various stages of development. We even communicated to them in writing that the work should be stopped.
“But unfortunately, maybe considering their institution and agency, they moved on,” he explained.
Galadima also said that the Engineering Department of the FCDA, wrote to his Department on plans to construct a bridge on the particular section of the District.
“So, there’s nothing we can do about this,” he added.
The director ruled out the possibility of compensation for the demolished buildings.
According to him, compensation is given to any property that has approval and it’s being cut off by development process.
He added that in the case of the demolished property, there was no approval.
He also hinted at the possibility of prosecuting defaulting developers and making them pay the penalties, including cost of demolition.
