Wike orders immediate demolition of houses built on Abuja waterways

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has ordered the immediate demolition of houses built on designated waterways in Abuja.

Wike gave the directive on Tuesday after inspecting areas affected by flooding in Maitama and other parts of the Federal Capital Territory.

He said the demolition would begin immediately and continue until Saturday, stressing that the exercise would not be stopped because of political activities or the status of the owners of the affected properties.

According to the minister, several buildings had been constructed on waterways mapped out in the Abuja Master Plan for the movement of stormwater.

“We will pull down every house built on the water channels, regardless of who owns them. Some of the affected properties belong to senators and other influential people, but the law will apply to everyone,” Wike said.

He said the demolition would go ahead irrespective of the election period, stressing that enforcing the law and doing what was right would not cause any harm.

Wike said the recent flooding had exposed the impact of human activities on flooding in the capital, alongside the effects of heavy rainfall and climate change.

“The major factors worsening flooding in Abuja include buildings constructed on waterways, blocked drainage channels, indiscriminate dumping of refuse and the failure to properly maintain and desilt drainage systems,” he said.

The minister said an inspection of some affected areas showed that property owners had blocked channels that were originally provided in the Abuja Master Plan to allow water to flow.

“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.

Wike noted that many of the affected buildings belonged to wealthy Nigerians and had existed for several years.

He said the government would no longer allow wealth or influence to shield anyone from enforcement of planning regulations.

“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,” he said.

The minister said some of the illegal developments had been in place for between eight and 10 years, suggesting that previous administrations may not have had enough political will to enforce the regulations.

He, however, insisted that the current FCT Administration was prepared to take action.

Wike warned that anyone who believed the current administration lacked the political will to take decisive action would be seriously mistaken.

“If there is one minister that has that political will, I have. I have the political will.”

Wike also directed relevant FCT authorities to immediately begin desilting drainage channels identified as contributing to flooding.

He called on residents, traders and other members of the public to stop throwing refuse into drainage channels, warning that such practices could worsen flooding.

The minister said the flooding should not be reduced to a political issue, noting that flooding was a natural phenomenon that had affected major cities in different parts of the world.

He acknowledged that climate change and unusually heavy rainfall could contribute to flooding but maintained that human activities also played an important role.

“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.

Wike said the demolition exercise would continue despite concerns that it could attract political criticism during the election season.

He directed the FCT Development Control Department not to delay the exercise.

The minister also said the administration would continue to protect designated green areas and enforce Abuja’s planning regulations, regardless of how long an illegal development had existed.