The FCTA had recently demolished a building belonging to Kpokpogri, an ex-lover to actress Tonto Dikeh, at Guzape in Abuja, the FCTA claims that he built the house on a major highway. Kpokpogri had said the structure is worth over N700m.
Aside from the demolition of Kpokpogri’s house, the FCTA also recently demolished over 300 structures in a densely populated Bassa-Jiwa village, near the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Speaking on the incident, a civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, has slammed the Federal Capital Territory Administration led by the FCT Minister, Mohammed Bello, over the demolition of allegedly approved structures.
HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko on Tuesday said, Most of the affected structures were residential buildings, shanties, and kiosks. This particular exercise as lawful as it is, it could have been carried with a little human feelings such as providing alternatives to these homeless and less privileged Nigerians.
The group condemned the practice of throwing the poor outside the streets with no option of resettlement or some forms of compensation to help them obtain alternative places of residence.
The group also said it was saddening that some of the buildings demolished by the FCTA were done for alleged political reasons.