In keeping with its commitment to restore encroached plots so that the rightful owners can take possession, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on Monday removed hundreds of allegedly illegal developments from Gishiri village in the Katampe District.
Two bulldozers were used to pull down the structures that had been illegally built for residential, commercial, educational, and religious purposes inside peoples’ plots and rights of way by representatives of the FCTA’s Department of Development Control. They were joined by joint security personnel.
Some of those affected complained that they had just finished paying their rent a week earlier, but others said that their landlords were requesting payment before demolishing their homes.
Also, it was observed that the owners of the legally allocated plots have started taking possession of their land by erecting perimeter fences around their respective plots, as they are encouraged to do so by the FCTA.
Explaining the exercise, the District Monitor of Katampe and Mabushi Districts of the FCT, Town Planner, Samson Atureta said it has been ongoing as the extensions are actually on people legally allocated plots in the area.
According to him: “There are so many illegal developments and the village extensions, that’s why we had to clear them because these extensions are actually on people’s legally allocated plots.
“So, what we are doing here is to ensure that all those developments that are village extensions are removed, even as we are trying to be careful not to tamper with the houses where indigenes are living in.
“Government might take time, because of procedures, eventually they will get there. So, today is one of those days that they are here. We can’t help it as these extensions have to go, so as to allow the legal owners to take possession of ideally allocated plots.”
Speaking on whether the people were duly notified prior to the exercise, he said: “Yes, as the District Monitor, I have gotten approval to remove Gishiri more than a year ago, but we were just waiting for the logistics. And we finally got the green light that we are going to do it, I met the Director of Development Control that he should permit me to give them another notice. So we just gave final notice, a week before we really started the removal exercise.”
Also commenting on the number of structures removed so far, he said: “They are in hundreds, as we can’t really give the actual number now, even though our site officials are working on it, so that we will be able to give proper numbering of houses we have removed. We are counting as we remove them, but I dare say that we have removed hundreds if not a thousand.
“We started about a month or two ago, but because we didn’t have logistics including the security backing, we have to really arrange for them to come. This is the fourth them we are coming here for the exercise.”
Meanwhile, one of the affected persons, Mama Blessing, who runs a drinking joint and resides in the area, laments that: “Even though we know that they will come and do something like this, at least they would have given us enough time to leave and relocate to another place.
“For me, I’m still looking for a place to relocate, but my appeal to the government is that they should help us relocate to another, as the suffering is too much. We are not rejecting the demolition exercise as we knew that it is government land. But please let them give a time leave because to suddenly quit is not easy especially when we don’t have another place to go to.”