Leadership (Abuja)
24 April 2008
Abuja — The Department of Development Control has begun demolition of illegal structures at Lugbe Federal Housing Authority (FHA), a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory.
The exercise which began Tuesday morning, leadership gathered, took traders who sell along the major entrance to the suburb, unaware as they claimed that the agency only came a day before to earmark the area for demolition.
Traders were seen trying to escape with the goods they could lay their hands on, while several others were totally destroyed by the rampaging bulldozers.
Most of the residents, who spoke to our correspondent on the issue, expressed shock that demolition was still on-going in the FCT.
"I am really shocked that the FCT administration is still carrying on demolition exercise in the Territory, I thought that the issue was a forgotten one. My grouse is that they will demolish a place and leave it just like that. I mean there should be a reason for demolition. If the government wants to set up something in an area and there is need for demolition exercise, it is understandable, but when they just chase people out of a place and leave it like that its act of wickedness", said a resident who gave her name as Madam Titi.
An officer of the agency, who spoke to our reporter on condition of anonymity, pointed out that the people were given enough time to park their belongings out of the area.
"That is what we hear every time an exercise like this is carried out. People complain of not being given enough time to pack out, but if you visit some other areas that have been marked for demolition, you will see people still erecting buildings. The truth is that Nigerians like to see action before they take measures and that is why properties are being destroyed any time this exercise is carried out, even if they were given two years notice to vacate the premises, he added.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Leadership. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
