A property said to belong to the former first lady, Patience Jonathan, was on Tuesday demolished by the FCT Development Control Department.
The FCT stated that the building, which was located along the Mabushi-Life Camp Expressway, was pulled down because it had no official approval. The Chief Press Secretary to the FCT Minister, Cosmas Uzodinmma, said that the Development Control Department only demolished buildings that distorted the Abuja master plan.
He noted that the necessary laid down guidelines must have been breached by the developers hence the demolition of the structure by the FCT Administration.
“If people did not follow the laid down guidelines that is when the development control unit act to correct anomalies. Whenever you see development control put down a building, they must have done so to correct the distortion of the master plan,” he stated.
Muktar Usman, Director of Development Control, Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), also said that the building had no approval and that notice was served for the demolition of the property. He said the building was not the only one affected by the demolition in the area as there were others that were also demolished. Muktar alleged that members of staff of the Development Control Department were also assaulted at the premises
The lawyer for the property owner, Emmanuel Anene, said that the issue of the building was still pending before the Federal High Courts in Lagos and Abuja. He said: “Sometime ago, people from the Development Control came to the site, alleging that there was no approval for the building. We met them at their office and showed them the approval, which they accepted. We thought that the matter was over.
“They had earlier gone to court with an application for forfeiture of the property to the government which they failed to achieve at the Lagos High Court.” “So, we were surprised that a team came in this afternoon without notifying us to remove the structure.
“Also, we were not served with any notice for demolition, they just came in now and started the demolition of the structure,” he added.
