Land grabbers having field day in Abuja, town planners lament

Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter has bemoaned influx of land grabbers in the nation’s headquarters, saying their activities are disrupting genuine developmental efforts.

Chairperson of the association, Lami Ayuba, raised the alarm during her Investiture as 14th chairman and inauguration of the 2022/2023 executive committee of the institute, at the weekend, in Abuja.

“There is a lot of land grabbing going on, especially in the inner part of the city. We want to see if we can make the authorities make available existing layout of the city to check the menace,” she said.

Ayuba identified some of the planning problems in the FCT to include double allocations, fake layouts, overlapping layouts and unapproved developments, which later result in eviction or demolition, cloning of land documents and multiple allocations for a single park, that eventually result in various court cases. She stated that her vision is to advance the town planning profession and advocate for policies and actions that would address the planning problems in the FCT to make Abuja a liveable and inclusive city.

Earlier, Minister of State for the FCT, Dr. Ramatu Aliyu, warned against moves that could alter the Territory’s master plan. Represented by acting Director, Resettlement and Compensation Department, FCTA, Nasir Sulaiman, the minister stressed the need to sustain the roadmap, noting that town planners have an important role to play.

She said the world was fast changing and planners must change along with the trend by ensuring a robust federal capital. NITP’s National President, Nathaniel Atebije called on planners to be courageous, while encouraging them to imitate the newly inaugurated chairman.