The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike has defended the demolition of properties in the nation’s seat of power, saying he won’t be swayed by blackmail.
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Wike said the structures being demolished by the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) are properties illegally built on government lands.
“Let me use this opportunity to tell Nigerians and residents of Abuja, we are not afraid of blackmailing,” the minister said during the distribution of operational vehicles to security agencies at the FCTA Secretariat in Abuja on Thursday.
“In fact, you cannot be in this kind of position and say you cannot be blackmailed particularly as regards this Abuja. There are so many land grabbers. Some of us have come to put our feet down. Let heaven fall. It is even better that heaven comes down now so that we would not be fasting again to go to heaven.”
In recent months, the FCTA has intensified the demolition of what it deemed as illegal structures in estates and shanties in Abuja.
According to Wike, while some of the structures pose security risks, the rest were built on lands belonging to the government.
The move has triggered a backlash and protests but Wike has insisted there is no going back and vowed to go after more illegally constructed buildings and shanties.
“We would stop anybody who thinks they will take government land for whatever reason with formal approval. We would not look at your face. If you like be a civil rights activist or a television personality,” Wike, the immediate past governor of Rivers State, said during the event.
“What is wrong is wrong; no amount of blackmail can stop us. People take government property without approval or documentation.”
Wike’s comment came on the same day that the Senate ordered a probe into the demolitions in the FCT, setting up a committee to look into the development.
The Senate’s move followed a motion sponsored by the Senator representing FCT Ireti Kingibe who raised concerns over the demolitions and called for an order to stop them.
It set up an investigative committee to probe the demolitions. The group is expected to also invite Wike to the Senate so he can explain the reasons for the demolitions in the nation’s capital. The committee is led by the Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin.
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