UPDATED: Residents Scamper For Safety As FCTA Demolishes Houses In Gwarinpa

Many Households residing at the Corner Shop Area of Gwarinpa Estate were thrown into confusion on Thursday after Personnel of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) stormed the area for a massive demolition.

THE WHISTLER learnt that the FCTA had issued a notice to the residents of the 21 Road Corner Shop in 2019, and were again reminded on March 18 to evacuate the areas following the obstruction of a waterway.

Residents who were sighted trying to salvage their properties during the demolition told this website they were not given adequate notice to evacuate.

Speaking to THE WHISTLER, Charles Peters, a victim of the exercise said, “I have been living here for two years and there was a notice of demolition issued two weeks ago. The landlord said they were doing some exercises to ensure that demolition does not take place.

“Then they (FCTA) came up with an agreement that they are demolishing about five meters from the waterway, but unfortunately, they came today and started demolishing without notice. From what we are seeing, they have demolished over 30 meters. So, we are trying to salvage our things and that is the situation on ground now.”

Peter whose wife is heavily pregnant said he was emotionally and financially disoriented, saying, “I don’t know where we are going to yet. We are still confused.”

Similarly, another resident who identified himself as Bobby said he had only lived in his apartment for five months where he paid N500,000, noting, “It is not up to 21 days that they came here, and I am just so confused because the only option we have is to return to the street”.

On her part, Ifeyinwa Onya, a mother of four children pleaded to the government to have mercy on them saying, “We don’t have where to go to and where to run to, with this whole hardship.”

Meanwhile, the Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement to FCT Minister, Ikharo Attah told this website that the demolished houses were not only built on the waterway but a chunk of their waste is also passed into the water.

“When we came here earlier, we were seeing their waste passing through the pipes into the water. They have no proper drainage system. So, in the advent of a flood, the water will enter these houses, and this flood happens due to the obstruction of the waterway, Gwarinpa will be gone.

“So, we have to remove these houses and what we are doing is to ensure that this water flows when the raining season is here”.

On his part, Muktar Galadima, Director Development Control Department, FCTA said the demolition was a part of the city management rule, to ensure that most buildings currently on the waterway were demolished.

“This is flood region and that is why it was left open so in case of any flooding the water could just lay here and then recede, but these houses are encroaching into that corridor.

“Moreover, these are places reserved for underground facilities provided by FCTA. So, they are encroaching into our corridors and we had to take such actions”.

When asked if there was prior information released to the affected individuals, Muktar showed some markings placed on the walls dated March 18, 2022, on some of the yet to be demolished buildings.

He noted that the exercise was in collaboration with the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), and the ministerial tax force to ensure the safety of lives and properties before the rainy season.

He called on FCT residents to ensure they have ownership of valid title documents and approval from the FCTA before erecting structures.

“I bet you the federal government did not allocate waterway lands to these individuals for construction,” he said.

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