Authority of the Nigerian Federal capital territory administration, FCTA, has raised alarm of an encroachment of over 200 hectares of land in the Federal Capital City by illegal land grabbers raising unapproved structures around the Sabon Lugbe district.
The Acting Director, Development Control Department of the FCT, Garba Kwamkur, said over 150 criminals have encroached into areas meant for public facilities in the Sabon-Wuse area of the district.
Kwamkur who spoke to journalist shortly after a demolition exercise, said the demolition is part of effort to sanitize the area in line with the FCT Administration’s pronouncement to incorporate Lugbe into the Federal Capital City proper.
“As you are aware the FCT Administration has pronounced that Lugbe will be incorporated into the Federal Capital City proper, so the plan is being incorporated to have the same kind of infrastructure as those in the city.
“This area was planned for public facilities such as schools, markets, hospitals, and other public utilities, but land grabbers have encroached into the area and captured all the plots meant for public facilities and are developing them as housing estates thereby denying space for the necessary amenities that will be needed for the district in the future” he added.
Kwamkur who stressed that the area is meant to serve as the district center of Sabon-Lugbe said, “Over 200 hectares have been encroached upon by criminals with fake and cloned tittle documents. But the 1976 decree that forms Abuja stipulates that any development to be carried out within the confines of the territory needs a government permit from the department of development control before you can undertake any housing projects. But I can categorically tell you that non of them approached us for such approvals so that is why we are here to recover these encroached plots.”
He said the department will forward the list of suspected offenders to the FCT Police commissioner to track and prosecute them as specified by the law.
“We have served them stop work notices, quit notices as spelt out in the 1992 Urban and Regional Planning Law, but they have ignored all our notices and proceeded to develop these plots without building approvals.
“Currently we have a list of well over 150 of them and we will be sending the list to the police commissioner for further prosecution.”
Emmanuel Ukoh
