Minister seeks power to demolish abandoned FCT buildings

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr. Bala Mohammed, on Thursday sought stiffer laws that would empower the administration to demolish abandoned and uncompleted buildings in the territory.
Mohammed said that 435 of such properties had been identified in the FCT. He spoke before the House of Representatives Committee on Public Safety and National Security in Abuja.
The committee is investigating last week's killing of nine persons by security operatives in an uncompleted building sited at the Apo Legislative Quarters, Abuja.

A joint operation by State Security Service operatives and soldiers had led to the killing of the victims, who were suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect.
Public outcry had greeted the killings after several human rights activists and families of some of the victims denied that they had links with the sect.
The minister told the committee that many uncompleted buildings in the territory served as hideouts for hoodlums.
However, he complained that the administration was often restrained from pulling down such structures by legal hurdles.
He said developers often resorted to the courts to obtain injunctions stopping the FCT administration from demolishing the buildings.
Mohammed appealed to the National Assembly to make stiffer legislation against some activities of the developers and empower the administration to carry out the necessary actions without impediment.
The minister spoke further, "As an administration, we are hamstrung and constrained because the legal system in the FCT is such that we do not control the judiciary.
"We are impeded by so many litigation impeding our capacity to enforce building regulations.
"This has resulted to the high incidence of double allocations, and about 5,000 cases (of double allocation) were uncovered after a recent census conducted by the authorities."
On the ownership of the twin duplex,where the Boko Haram suspects were killed, Mohammed informed the committee that the site was allocated to one Adunni Oluwola-Salisu in 2009.
He added that the allottee got the required approval to develop the property.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr. Bello Mutawalle, initially directed the minister to demolish the building.
However, some of his colleagues called for caution, saying that further actions should be delayed till the outcome of the investigation by the Senate into the same incident.
Those who advised against demolishing the building included Umar Bature, Ibrahim Olaifa, Betty Apiafi and Nosakhare Osahon.
When it was time for the committee to meet with the Chief of Army Staff, Lt- Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, on the issue, the session went into closed doors.
Meanwhile, a group, Nigerian Youths Assembly, has demanded the sacking of the spokesperson for the State Security Service, Ms. Marylene Ogar, for allegedly misleading Nigerians on the true identities of the victims.
The President of the group, Mr. Nurudeen Mustapha, said in Abuja that Ogar deceived Nigerians by linking the victims with Boko Haram.
The group also called for an independent investigation into the incident with a panel comprising human rights activists and the National Human Rights Commission.
He listed the demands of the group as compensation to the families of the victims, the sack of Ogar, the release of the bodies of all the victims and the protection of the lives and property of all Nigerians.
Also on Thursday, the National Union of Tricycle Operators and youth groups gave the Federal Government an eight-day ultimatum to bring those behind the Apo killings to book or face mass action.
The Chairman of the Abuja Municipal Area Council chapter of the NUTO, Mallam Musa Ibrahim, told one of our correspondents, that the ultimatum was in deference to the Senate which had empanelled a committee to investigate the incident.
Ibrahim claimed that five of those killed were members of the association.
He said, "We decided to give this ultimatum to allow the committee set up by the Senate to investigate the incident. If the committee comes up with recommendations that give justice to the dead and the wounded, we will call off the planned mass protest; if not, we will go ahead until justice is done."
The tricycle operators chairman explained that about seven operators were still in hospitals in Kubwa and Asokoro while others who suffered minor injuries had been treated and released.
The Permanent Secretary of the FCT, Mr. John Chukwu, has however appealed to the aggrieved parties to give government time to set up a probe panel to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Chukwu, made the appeal when some members of the Nigerian Youth Consultative Forum, led by Mustapha Nurudeen, held a meeting with him at the palace of the Emir of Garki District, Alhaji Usman Nga.
He explained that the circumstances of the killing required time to enable the government to find out the truth of the matter.
Nga, who is also the chief mediator, condemned the attack and appealed to the government to commence full investigation into the incident.