The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has cautioned residents against activities that lead to environmental degradation.

The Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) coordinator, Umar Shuaibu, made the call at the commemoration of 2023 World Earth Day on Thursday in Abuja.

Mr Shuaibu decried the unending distortion and destruction of the Abuja Master Plan by some residents of the nation’s capital.

He said the illegal felling of trees, building on water channels and road corridors have distorted and destroyed the plan for the development of Abuja.

Tunde Imolehin, senior special assistant on the environment and waste management to the FCT minister, said the objective of the commemoration of World Earth Day in FCT was to guide residents on how to dispose of their waste properly.

“To make our stay on this planet meaningful, we must invest wisely. We must take proper care of the environment, conserve and preserve the limited resources,” Mr Imolehin explained. “World Earth Day began in 1970 in the United States to highlight the importance of our planet and the conservation of its ecosystems on all continents and oceans.”

He added, “Since then, the world’s attention has been drawn to the challenges facing mankind and the environment and ways to manage them.”

FCT department of development control director Mukhtar Galadima disclosed that over 10,000 illegal structures were demolished in the last eight years in the FCT and mentioned 300 hectares of land were recovered as the administration’s commitment to restore sanity in the territory.

Mr Galadima said the measure was pertinent to reverse the norms affecting the officials from restoring the master plan and sanity across the city.

(NAN)