FCTA Demolishes 30 Residential Houses to Avert Floorings in Trademore Estate

Federal Capital Territory (FCT) administration has demolished over 30 residential houses to avert incessant floodings in Trademore Estate in the nation’s capital, Abuja.

Mr Ikharo Attah, Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement to FCT Minister, while fielding questions from journalists at the site in Abuja yesterday, disclosed that over 100 houses were marked but 30 houses would be removed immediately.

Attah, said “This is ongoing removal of illegal structures on the flood plain at the trademore estate along airport road. This estate has been a theatre of flooding very intensive flooding here and we have been engaging them for years and they have come to terms that this area is very dangerous to their lives and the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Malam Muhammad Bello, has asked us to remove all illegal structures on the flood plain. And that is what the machine behind me is doing.

“There has been excessive development on the flood plain in Trademore Estate of some persons and these is very worrisome. All the houses that are going down were marked and some have been marked as long as three years ago, some were marked at foundation level, window level, roofing level. The final marking was about 4 days ago. And we gave them 48 hours and even gave them additional 24 hours”.

The Senior Special Assistant said, “For now 30 houses are going but over 100 were marked but we are still engaging critical stakeholders around there. After removing the first 30 houses, we will engage with them we look at how we can use land solution act to find solution.

“Like what some of them are saying that the Developer of Trademore Estate should be charge to court, they have the locus standing to take him to court.

“We are very keen in getting the structures out so that water can pass and lives are saved in the city”.

He revealed that the administration won’t compensate anyone because there was no building plan, no approval, no allocation on the flood plain.

Some of the residents called for the prosecution of the developer of Trademore Estate, for flood diversion and selling water plain properties to Nigerians.

They asserted that where the developer build houses are the roots of the water and the water was diverted.