The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has held an interactive session with chiefs of seven communities along the Abuja Airport Road over the planned demolition of illegal structures.

Addressing journalists at a meeting with community leaders, Ikharo Attah, senior special assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement to the FCT minister, assured indigenes in the area that their interests would be protected.

Mr Attah represented FCT minister Mohammed Bello at the meeting.

He appealed to indigenous inhabitants of the FCT to be circumspect about how they sell their ancestral land, noting that families of FCT indigenous people were enlarging and must be considered when planning for the future.

“A layout is underway to cater exclusively for this purpose. I appeal to you not to sell lands in the layout when they are allocated to you so you won’t cry foul after selling the land. We are coming to demolish all non-indigenous buildings in your communities; it will be massive,” he stated. “We shall not demolish your houses because they are on ancestral lands. The minister has directed that we move in to remove all illegal structures within the nation’s capital. Houses built illegally by non-indigenes will be demolished, and compensation shall not be paid.”

Earlier, the acting director of the FCT Department of Development Control, Garba Kwamkur, said the meeting was at the minister’s instance.

Mr Kwamkur noted that illegal buildings already marked for demolition would be destroyed, while many more would suffer the same fate before the year runs to an end.

He said demolition of illegal structures would begin in the first quarter of 2022, adding that the exercise would not leave any illegal estate, particularly in Lugbe behind.

Yusuf Aguma of Sauka, one of the chiefs, appealed to the FCTA to provide security at sites of demolished structures.

He explained that this is because “hoodlums take over such sites to loot indigenous communities as soon as the task force members have left.’’

(NAN)