FCTA demolishes shanties, beer parlours in Wuse parks

The Federal Capital Territory Administration on Tuesday demolished shanties, beer parlours and other illegal structures in designated Parks and Gardens in Wuse Zone 6, Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the FCTA through a joint team drawn from relevant departments and agencies under the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council raided and destroyed illegal structures within such parks and two other parks operating without approval or outside the land use.
The FCTA officials, accompanied by a joint security outfit, carried out the demolition after the operators or occupiers of the affected structures were allowed to evacuate their valuables from the Parks.
Addressing newsmen during the exercise, the Director, Development Control Department, Malam Murktar Galadima, said the demolition was a follow up to the ongoing sensitisation campaign and enforcement of development standard in the FCT
Galadima said the exercise would be sustained until the FCTA achieved its goals of ensuring that developers and others adhere to the FCT development control standard.
The director said the exercise would be carried out all over the Federal Capital City, wherever there are designated parks, to ensure prevailing activity was in line with what was approved for the development of such parks.
Galadima, therefore, cautioned operators of Parks and Recreational Spots against any transaction with any person that was not officially assigned to do that kind of transaction.
He said: “This administration is up and doing in regards to implementation of FCT development control standard.
“I will like to caution them (operators of parks) not to deal with anybody not officially assigned to do that responsibility, because sometimes some touts will claim that they are working for the constituted authorities whereas it is not true.
“However, if any of our staff is found wanting, we are going to apply the civil service rule.”
The Director, FCT Parks and Recreation Department, Ali Ukele, explained that the affected parks are not designed for recreational purposes but to be developed for basic park form, which entails they should have green and park benches.
Ukele said: “And we are not supposed to have buildings in them, so that’s the infractions observed.
“There are some park operators that have approved allocations, but a lot of them don’t have, so if you don’t have and you are operating illegally this operation will also catch up with you.
“We have shanties where people are sleeping within the parks, and you can see all sort of things in the parks.
“There are laundry services and all sort of shanty related activities, so we can’t allow the trend to continue.”