Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, has vowed to demolish houses built on designated water channels in Abuja, including properties belonging to senators and other influential Nigerians, following recent flooding in parts of the capital.
Wike issued the warning on Tuesday during a press briefing at his office after inspecting areas affected by flooding following heavy rainfall in the FCT.
The minister said his inspection revealed that some property owners had blocked waterways designated for drainage under the Abuja Master Plan, creating obstructions that contributed to the flooding.
“And certainly, we have gone there, and we have seen how people have blocked channels where in the master plan, that 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 said the recent flooding had exposed the consequences of building on waterways, warning that structures found on designated water channels would be demolished.
“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,” he said.
The minister gave the FCT Development Control Department until Saturday to identify and act against structures built 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,” Wike said.
He stressed that the demolition exercise would not spare property owners based on their political or social status.
“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.
Wike said enforcing the master plan and protecting waterways was necessary to prevent further flooding in the FCT.
“Heaven will not fall; rather, heaven will fall if that peace, that right thing, has not been done,” he added.
The minister’s comments followed his inspection of flood-affected areas in Maitama, where he also visited a designated drainage area on which a structure had reportedly been erected despite the plot being revoked in 2011.
Wike’s aide on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, described the location as a drainage area that had been allocated but subsequently 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 over flooding in parts of Abuja following heavy rainfall on Saturday. The FCT Administration has also said it is reviewing the 1979 Abuja Master Plan to reflect current realities and has begun installing drainage covers designed to prevent scavengers from removing them.
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