Nyesom Wike, the Federal Capital Territory Minister, has ordered the demolition of houses built on designated water channels in Abuja, warning that structures that obstruct waterways will be removed.
Wike issued the order during a news event at his office on Tuesday, following an inspection of flood-damaged areas in the FCT caused by heavy rainfall.
The minister, in a video posted by Nigerian Affairs Journal, claimed his investigation found that some property owners had obstructed conduits intended for water flow under the Abuja Master Plan.
“And certainly, we have gone there, and we have seen how people have blocked channels wherein the master plan is the right way where a channel is supposed to be. People, by their positions, have blocked it, believing that nothing will happen,” he said.
Wike stated that the recent flooding had exposed the consequences of blocking waterways, adding that the affected structures would be demolished.
“I have told people this in life: that nothing happened yesterday does not mean that something will not happen today. That it did not happen today does not mean that it will not happen tomorrow,” he said.
“Now you have done your own by blocking the water channel, and nothing has happened. Thank God the flood has come; it has drawn our attention to the place. Now, something will happen. I am going to bring those houses down. Any house that falls on the water channel will go down.”
The minister instructed the FCT Development Control Department until Saturday to remove constructions situated on waterways.
“From today to Saturday, if Development Control likes, let them find any excuses. If they like, let them find excuses—too bad. They can’t. We will demolish all those houses found on the water channel,” he said.
Wike noted the demolition would not be affected by the status of the owners of the properties, including politicians.
“Some of them are senators, some of them are big men. The next thing you’ll see is campaigns now: ‘Oh, why is he doing this during the election?’ That is the next campaign you will see now. Stop it! We have finished elections. Where is the election? There is no election. All those houses will go down,” he said.
“Heaven will not fall; rather, heaven will fall if that peace, that right thing, has not been done.”
The minister’s statements came after inspecting flooded regions in Maitama, Abuja, and visiting a designated drainage area where a structure had been erected despite the plot’s revocation in 2011.
Lere Olayinka, Wike’s adviser on public communications and social media, stated that the spot was a drainage area that was allocated but then revoked.
“The spot here is a drainage area. It was allocated but revoked in 2011. Structure was built on it,” Olayinka wrote in a post accompanying video footage of the inspection.
The inspection came amid concerns about flooding in parts of Abuja following heavy rainfall on Saturday.
Olayinka previously stated that the FCT Administration was reviewing the 1979 Abuja Master Plan to reflect current realities and had begun installing drainage covers designed to make it more difficult for scavengers to remove.
