By Ignatius Ushie
In line with the master plan of the Federal Capital City of Abuja,  the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) recently issued an ultimatum notice to some residents of Lokogoma District of the city by the Permanent Secretary FCTA, Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa to remove buildings obstructing flood plains and natural water channels.
In a statement made available to Transport Day and signed by the Press Secretary, removal of the affected structures commences today, Friday,12th July 2019. According to the statement, Enforcement team of the Department of Development Control began the removal exercise from the IPENT II Estate of the District.
The Director, Department of Development Control TPL Mukhtar Galadima said that the exercise may last for one month considering the difficult terrain their equipment will have to navigate through.
He also said that a total of 121 structures will be removed. These structures include whole buildings, fences and illegal attachments, adding that legal action might be taken against offending developers as the Department is working very closely with the Legal Secretariat of the FCTA to consider its legal options. What is however certain, according to Mr Galadima is that the offending developers will not go scott-free.
The Director revealed that all the structures being removed had received stop-work and demolition notices long before the exercise commenced today, but according to him, the developers ignored such warnings. The exercise, he further said, will be carried out in other mass housing districts of Kafe and Karsana where such violations also exist.
It may be recalled that the Permanent Secretary had paid an unscheduled visit to the Lokogoma District late last month following a heavy rainfall which reportedly claimed one life. He gave a two week notice for all structures on flood plains and water channels to be removed by the Department of Development Control.
Lokogoma District is situated in an area through which Rivers Wumba and Kabusa navigate through. However, several developers constructed houses on flood plains and water channels which often lead to severe flooding that affected lives and property.

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