Following the collapse of a two-storey building in Gwarimpa Estate, Abuja on Friday, the Hon. Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Muhammad Musa Bello, has ordered the arrest of some Federal Housing Authority (FHA) officials and the developer of the project.
The building which was located at 6th Avenue collapsed with no fewer than 24 persons were trapped in. Three persons were killed and 21 recused.
Worried by the incident which could have been caused by unprofessional practices in the course of the buildin’s development, the Honourable Minister of the Territory, directed security agencies to arrest the Housing Authority officials and the developer.
The minister’s directives was disclosed at a press briefing through the Coordinator of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), Umar Shuaibu.
According to him, an arrest warrant for manslaughter has already been issued against the developer and the FHA officers overseeing the development, and other relevant officials responsible for the verification of the project process, like the officer-in-charge of issuing the development permission, and the engineer supervising the project.
In view of the incident, all other structures around the area have been sealed off and are to be subjected through quality and integrity test confirmation to ascertain their standard.
“If found faulty, they are going to be demolished by the FCT administration, before any life is endangered,” Shuaibu said.
According to him: “Among the statutory responsibilities of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), is the development of the Federal Capital City and Territory, in line with the Abuja Master Plan.
“Accordingly, the entire Gwarinpa Estate, occupying the Gwarinpa II, Wupa and Bunkoro Districts of the Phase III of the City development, was allocated to the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) by the FCT administration, to provide essentially houses and attendant services to the citizens.
“They are to develop, control and monitor, to ensure strict compliance with the Abuja Master Plan, using the land use plan as provided by the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) as a guide. However, this incident is suggesting that there are flagrant violations in the development guidelines of the Wupa and Bunkoro District as developed and controlled by the FHA.
“Our preliminary findings suggests that there were breaches in the location, the building plan approval, the control and the monitoring of the development by the FHA, with glaring criminal tendencies by the developer, and or his representative during the construction activities.”
Also revealed was the glaring incapacity of the FHA to handle development control in Abuja and shoulder the responsibility of sensitive operations of this nature in cases of emergencies.
“The Gwarinpa Estate is only a fraction of what constitute the entire Federal Capital City adequately managed by the FCT administration, however, many of these unfortunate incidents were witnessed there in the past. Hence, the FCTA’s resolve to revisit that mandate ceded, in granting development permit and control to the FHA in the Gwarinpa Estate”, he said.
