FCTA Begins Demolition of Structures on Waterways and Green Areas in Abuja 

By Victor Idajili

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, on Monday ordered the immediate demolition of buildings and other structures blocking designated water channels and green spaces across Abuja.

The directive came just three days after heavy rainfall caused flooding in parts of the FCT, including Maitama District, where homes, businesses and vehicles were submerged.

Wike gave the order after inspecting flood-hit areas in Maitama. He said the exercise would start immediately and run through Saturday, regardless of political activities or the status of property owners.

“We will demolish all those houses found on the water channel. Some of them are senators. Some of them are big men. Whether there is an election or 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,” he said.

The minister noted that most of the affected structures were not new and were owned by wealthy Nigerians.  
“In all those built-up areas that were not supposed to be built up, not a single poor person will live there. Those houses are not houses that were built last week. Those houses were there 10 years ago, eight years ago. I’m going to bring those houses down. Any house that is found on the water channel will go down,” Wike warned. He also told Development Control officials not to delay the exercise.

He further condemned the conversion of designated green areas into buildings and said the administration would protect Abuja’s environmental assets and enforce planning regulations no matter how long illegal developments had existed.

Reports from Maitama Extension, particularly around Goalview Estate, indicated that several mansions were flooded over the weekend. Residents linked the flooding partly to indiscriminate construction along waterways and blocked drainage channels.

Findings showed that a major canal in the area had been covered with concrete to create space for construction, allegedly for a building linked to a serving senator from the North-East. Residents said this narrowed the waterway and prevented free flow, worsening the impact of Saturday’s rain.

Similar encroachments were observed along Ibrahim Babangida Boulevard and Alvan Ikoku Way, where portions of open spaces and natural drainage routes are now being developed.

 
Business owners and workers affected by demolitions in Maitama, Maitama Extension and the old WAEC building area around the Mississippi axis appealed to the FCTA for a more humane approach.

Mustafa Onimisi, owner of Xpressor, said officials had told them on Monday that their properties would be marked and they would get two weeks to respond.  
“We were told yesterday by the director that they would mark them and give us two weeks. But to our great surprise, we woke up this morning and heard that the FCT minister was here himself and ordered the demolition,” he said.  
“The minister is the alpha and omega, but he could have put a human face to the process. You are not dealing with fowls,” Onimisi added, urging authorities to dialogue with those affected.

During a visit to the area, some people were seen rushing to remove belongings from structures as demolition continued.

Officials of the Federal Capital Development Authority also pulled down the perimeter fence and part of a gym at a residence on Mississippi Street, Maitama. A relative of the property owner, Yusufu Aminu, said they had received a two-week notice on Monday but were shocked when demolition began the next day.  
“They came on Monday and gave us a notice. for us to remove our items. So, all of a sudden, they came today, they said the FCT minister came, and now he instructed them to demolish this place,” he said.

Aminu alleged that flooding at the property started after a newer building was constructed over a major canal nearby. “Why has this very house that is sitting on the main canal, where the water is supposed to pass through, not been touched while you are on a cycle? That’s the question that we need to ask.”

 
Urban planners say the flooding reflects years of violations of Abuja’s master plan. One town planner noted that natural streams in the Central Area had been narrowed to a few culverts, with buffer zones built over.  

“When the first rain came, it overflowed the culvert because the two or three channels that are there will not convey the water that is coming from the upper level. So it created its own path, a very big gully by the side,” he said.

He criticized the focus on demolition without addressing how the approvals were granted in the first place.  
“If he didn’t order the allocation, he must discipline the people who allocated the land there and bring them to book,” he said, adding that all plots allocated in green areas and waterways must be revoked.

He urged the FCTA to conduct a comprehensive review of land allocations and building approvals in environmentally sensitive areas, revoke illegal allocations, and prosecute officials and individuals who violated planning rules.

The administration says the demolition will continue as part of efforts to restore waterways, prevent further flooding, and enforce development regulations across the capital.