The Abuja Metropolitan Management Council of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has given its Development Control Department 48 hours to demolish more than 10 duplexes built on a green area.

The council coordinator, Felix Obuah, gave the directive on Thursday during a joint inspection tour targeting illegal developments across the city.

Mr Obuah explained that the developer of the properties had ignored multiple stop-work orders and warnings issued by the Department of Development Control.

He said the structures, built without authorisation or allocation, violated the Abuja Master Plan in Wumba District, near Apo in Abuja.

“When we invited the developer to provide legal documents for the activities he’s carrying out, we discovered there was no paper, no approval, no allocation,” Mr  Obuah said.

“So all these properties that you are seeing here are going down. Come back here in the next 48 hours, you’d see everything down,” Mr Obuah said.

He said the FCT Administration would not tolerate illegal development, especially in areas designated for environmental preservation.

The director of development control, Mukhtar Galadima, confirmed that no approval was granted for the construction.

“We had marked the structures at various stages, but the developer ignored our directives,” Mr Galadima said.

“The only language that some developers seem to understand is the bulldozer,” he stated.

He noted that the affected structures included both roofed and unroofed buildings and that demolition would proceed as ordered.

The director of parks and recreation, Chidemelu Echee, condemned the destruction of green spaces, saying Abuja’s urban design integrates natural ecosystems to ensure sustainable living.

“This is a disaster waiting to happen,” Mr Echee said. “People are randomly destroying the natural ecosystem without authorisation, which worsens the global warming crisis.”

The Director of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board, Osilama Braimah, warned that removing green spaces leads to environmental degradation, including increased urban heat and flooding.

“When concrete covers everything, it prevents water percolation, affects groundwater recharge, and worsens flooding,” Mr Braimah explained. “We must preserve green areas to protect people and the environment.”

(NAN)