The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has ordered the arrest of the owner of a collapsed two-storey building located along Lagos Street in the Garki village area of Garki District, Abuja.
Wike gave the order when he visited the scene of the collapsed building on Thursday while also directing the suspension of further property development in the area.
The minister said the FCTA will resettle indigenous residents of the community to allow government agencies to properly plan the area and forestall future occurrences.
“We must identify and arrest the owners of this property, it is very important, and the government will take over the area and make sure that no further development is carried out and I want all the stakeholders to work with the government.
“I sympathize with those who have lost their lives and the government will take over the bills of those who are alive. I want everybody to support those who are working here to make sure they get to the last level so that if there are people that are still there, God willing, we will save them.”
“These are the things we have been saying. Nobody knows whose turn it will be and therefore it is important that when the government says they will take actions on certain areas that we believe are illegal to build or buildings that don’t comply with the standard, it is not as if anybody has any personal vendetta.
“I don’t know why it has taken so long that FCTA did not resettle them and I will see to it that the indigenes of this area are resettled and the government has to plan this place to make sure that everybody is protected and safety is applied and to forestall this kind of occurrence, sometimes government decisions may not be comfortable but in the long run, it is for the interest of everybody.”
Also speaking, the senator representing the FCT in the Senate, Ireti Kingibe, called on regulatory agencies to regularly evaluate old buildings while urging residents to always ensure they get proper documentation and approval before construction.
“Everybody should get proper documentation and approval for their buildings; this is an old building there was no approval. The agency should also have a process in which they go regularly to evaluate old buildings, we the people need to comply then the agencies will do their work,” she said.
