Dr Yahaya Yusuf, Director of Development Control, Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, says the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) derives no pleasure in demolition of houses.
Yusuf made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.
He said that the demolition of houses being carried out in the capital city was to comply with the original form of Abuja master plan to the letter.
He said that the demolition of illegal structures along airport road would help to sanitise the area because some of the estates in the axis were built on fake allocation and backdated documents.
He recalled that the developer of the Minanuel Estate which was demolished recently refused to heed to the FCT development control notices served at three?consecutive time to stop work.
“The illegal development of the affected estate was noticed by our demolition team at their embryo stage, the developer was served with a “Stop Work Notice’’ on??Aug. 20, 2011.
“We instructed the developer to present the title document for the plot, approved building plan and comprehensive development plan which the developer disregarded.
“The FCT development control served the developer a quit notice on Sept.9, 2011, with further instruction to present the earlier documents requested which he refused.
“When the developer refused to respond to the dual notices served, then we had no option than to serve a ‘demolition notice’ on Oct.3, 2011,’’ he said.
He said that in spite of all the awareness programmes both on electronic and national dailies; members of the public were still pursuing to buy houses from developers along airport roads.
“Demolition will still continue so as to get the Abuja master plan correctly, members of the public must desist from buying houses from developer without adequate confirmation from FCT.
“We do not have delight in demolishing houses, but developers must do things rightly and stop selling illegal houses to the public,’’ Yusuf said.
He also faulted some developers who were selling lands to individuals to build prototype houses, adding that the Federal Government was against such act.
“The federal government mass housing plan is that developers should build houses with adequate infrastructure put in place for buyers.
“It is wrong for the developers to sell the lands bit by bit to individuals to build,’’ he emphasised.
NAN reports that the FCT Minister had taken a pro-active step to deter unsuspecting Nigerians from falling victims to the fraudsters who were luring people into buying lands and houses in illegal estates.
He made several announcements both on radio and television stations across the?FCT, in addition to public notices published in three selected national dailies, Yusuf said.
“It was stated in the public notices and announcements that developers and buyers should beware that there was no approved plots for estate development after Lugbe FHA,” the minister said. (NAN)