Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has ordered the demolition of buildings “illegally constructed” on plots allocated to foreign missions in the diplomatic zone of Katampe extension, Abuja.
Addressing journalists during an inspection tour of projects across Abuja, Wike said that Kabiru Sahara, the developer involved, has been arrested and would face prosecution after the conclusion of the ongoing investigations by the police.
The land, located within the diplomatic zone in Katampe Extension, was originally allocated on March 18, 2008, to 10 embassies for diplomatic residential purposes.
A portion of the area was also reserved for the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) for a 132/133 kV power station.
Wike said the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) discovered that an individual had taken over the land and commenced construction without approval from the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA).
The minister added that the department of development control had been instructed to remove all illegal structures.
This is land allocated to foreign embassies for them to have their residential areas. Somebody just came here, took the land and started developing it on his own without approval from the FCDA. We cannot allow this kind of land invasion to continue,” he said.
It will be very unfortunate for us to fold our arms and say, okay, the place is already developed.
aken swift action. I’ve told them to bring down every building standing on this land.”
According to the minister, the plots were allocated to diplomatic missions, including those of Thailand, Bulgaria, Syria, Somalia, Serbia and Montenegro, Japan, Austria, Switzerland, Senegal, and the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
He said the FCTA had begun notifying the missions to take possession of their allocated land.
“The man has been arrested, and he will be charged to court. The police are carrying out their investigations, and he will be charged to court any moment from now,” he said.
