Wike Orders Demolition of Buildings Blocking Abuja Water Channels

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has ordered the demolition of buildings found to be obstructing designated water channels in Abuja after inspecting flood-affected areas in Maitama.

The directive followed heavy rainfall that caused flooding in parts of the Federal Capital Territory.

The minister attributed the situation partly to illegal developments that blocked drainage routes intended to convey stormwater.

During an inspection on Tuesday, Wike said the FCTA had identified structures built on water channels and warned that affected properties would be removed regardless of who owned them.

“I’m going to bring those houses down. Any house that’s found on the water channel will go down,” Wike said.

He directed the FCT Development Control Department to begin enforcement immediately, giving officials until Saturday to act on the identified structures.

“From today to Saturday, if the Development Control delay, let them find any excuse to run away. They cannot,” he said.

According to the minister, some of the affected properties belong to prominent Nigerians, including serving senators.

“Some of them are senators. Some of them are big men,” he said.

He added, “Whether there’s election or there’s no election, all those houses will go down. Heaven will not fall. Rather, heaven will be at peace that the right thing has been done.”

Wike said while heavy rainfall associated with climate change could contribute to flooding, human activities had significantly worsened the problem in Abuja.

He identified construction across natural waterways, development on land not approved for building, failure to desilt drainage systems and indiscriminate disposal of refuse into drains as major causes.

“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. And it’s those man-made factors we have been trying to tackle, and we’ll continue to tackle,” he said.

He said officials found that some developments had blocked channels designated in the Abuja Master Plan for stormwater.

“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 channeled,” he said.

Wike argued that the absence of previous flooding at a location did not justify building across a waterway.

“Nothing happened yesterday does not mean that something will not happen today. That it did not happen today, does not mean it will not happen tomorrow,” he said.

The minister said enforcement would apply to all property owners, regardless of their status or political connections.

“It doesn’t matter who is responsible. It doesn’t matter how highly placed you are,” he said.

He also criticised past failures to enforce planning regulations, saying officials responsible for supervising physical development must carry out their duties without fear or favour.

Wike said the focus should be on identifying the immediate and underlying causes of flooding rather than politicising the issue.

“We must go straight to the point and know what is the problem. What is the remote cause, what are the immediate causes of this problem? Not to go and get a place to begin to shout ‘this happened, that did not happen’ without even finding out facts,” he said.

He also said flooding was not unique to Abuja, noting that similar incidents had occurred in other countries following heavy rainfall.

“Flood could be a natural disaster. After all, you see forecasts, NiMet states that are likely to be flooded, or flood likely to take place in some states based on torrential rainfall expected. It happens.

“Flooding has taken place in Dubai. Flooding has taken place in America, in England. These are even, you can say, well-organized, developed cities. Yet, flooding took place,” he said.

The minister directed officials to begin desilting identified drainage systems and urged residents to stop dumping refuse into drains.

“We have to immediately start desilting some of the areas we have identified.

“But again, we owe it as a responsibility not to pour our refuse into the drainages to be believing that, oh, government will come and desilt. That’s unfair,” he said.

He warned that blocked drains and manholes could worsen flooding during heavy rainfall.

Wike also raised concerns over encroachment on green areas designated in the Abuja Master Plan, saying such spaces should not be converted to other uses.

“Parks are not green areas. There are different things between what you call using as a recreation centre and preserving as a green area. There are two things,” he said.

He rejected arguments that long-standing illegal developments should be allowed to remain because they had existed for years.

“So, why is it now? Because something that was done wrongly will not be corrected? No, we will not allow that. We won’t,” he said.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Abuja Operations Office, and the FCT Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have been assessing the impact on affected communities, including Wuse and Mabushi, to determine damage to homes, roads, businesses and other infrastructure.

Wike said the flooding had also helped expose structural and human factors contributing to the problem.

“I never created any flood. I never,” the minister said, adding that enforcement would proceed wherever planning regulations had been violated.