Abubakar Siddiq Ibn Usman
…Orders Halt to Illegal Police Buildings Under High-Tension Lines in Apo
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has flagged off the construction of an access road and bridge linking the Body of Benchers complex with the Nile University area in Abuja’s Institution and Research District.
Speaking during the flag-off ceremony on Friday, Wike noted that the road project extends beyond the legal body, emphasizing that Nile University and Baze University will be the greatest beneficiaries due to the high volume of daily traffic from the two private institutions.
The Minister said, “The greatest beneficiaries of this project are not just the Body of Benchers but these two private institutions that are here. “I hope these private institutions… also recognize that the government is also doing something that has positively affected our universities. If you begin to say that, then you are a good citizen”.
He pledged to ensure the timely completion of the road within a six-month schedule, guaranteeing that necessary funding will be made available to the contractor.
Barr. Wike, who also used the event to emphasize the importance of constructive criticism, commended the Body of Benchers for its approach in requesting the project, contrasting it with those who use social media to castigate the government for political purposes.
He cited the recently commissioned roads in Mabushi District, which were fixed simply because a Life Bencher and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Damien Dodo, called his attention to the problem rather than criticizing the government publicly.
“Now see what the Body of Benchers has done. You did not go to social media and criticize the government over the state of this road. You made your request humbly, and the President granted it and see where we are today. So, good citizens should be able to carry out their own responsibilities by calling government attention. It is not everything you go to the social media with”, the Minister said and warned, “What you didn’t get through the door, you won’t get it through the windows.”
Barr. Wike while also emphasizing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment to supporting the judiciary, revealed that the access road to the Body of Benchers, along with other interventions for the legal community, were not initially in the budget but were approved by the President under emergency procurement to support the legal profession.
He mentioned the President’s swift response to requests from the Body of Benchers for an annex office project and a fire service station, as well as the soon-to-be-flagged-off 600-bed hostel for Nigerian Law School, as a confirmation that the President remembers the requests brought to him, stressing, “That is the essence of the Renewed Hope Agenda.
The Minister also disclosed that the FCTA was in the process of beginning the construction of a fire service building for the institution, while the construction of a 600-bed hostel for the Nigerian Law School in Bwari would also be flagged off by Monday next week.
Earlier in her Vote of Thanks, the Minister of State, FCT, Dr Mariya Mahmoud described the road initiative as a strategic infrastructure that will enhance connectivity, ease movement, and also stimulate economic development of the area, while also supporting the academic and legal institutions around the axis. She thanked the FCT Minister for his strategic vision in transforming the entire FCT.
Presenting an overview of the project, the Executive Secretary, Federal Capital Development Authority, Engr Richard Yunana Dauda, said the construction of Collector C01 Road in the Institution and Research District situated in Phase Three was in accordance with the Abuja Master Plan.
Engr Dauda stressed that the Administration had embarked on the project as part of its mandate to provide infrastructure to the District, pointing out that the project will further open up the District to development, enhance general traffic circulation, and provide direct and indirect employment to residents of the Territory in the course of construction. He specified the scope of work to include site clearance, earthworks, underground storm water drainage, box and pipe culvert, asphalt paved roads, a three-span river bridge, as well as solar street lighting.
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Managing Director of CCECC, the contractor entrusted with the project, Guan Shuai, thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Honourable Minister of the FCT, Barr Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, for the widespread development he had observed in the FCT in recent times, admitting that in October alone, so many landmark projects had been flagged off.
Mr Shuai pledged that the road project would be completed within the six-month timeframe and would be of high standards.
Following the flag-off ceremony, the Minister led an inspection visit to the site of illegal structures being constructed by the Nigerian Police Force directly under high-tension power transmission lines at Dutse, within Apo District.
Briefing newsmen at the site, Barr. Wike disclosed that he was compelled to visit the site after Development Control enforcement officers who attempted to stop the illegal construction were detained by the Police.
He emphasized the great safety risk to the buildings and expressed dismay that they were being erected by a law enforcement agency, despite clear safety warnings.
“Yesterday, I got a call from Development Control that they had to come here to stop some buildings that were going to be close to a high tension. It’s unfortunate that they were being built by the Nigerian Police. Look at the high tension, how will anybody take such a risk”, the Minister stated.
Barr. Wike stressed that even without the power line, the Police had no right to proceed after the Development Control had declined its application for approval and promised to take up the matter with the Inspector General of Police, who, he said, may not be aware of the development.
He said, “The mere fact that the Development Control has refused to give you the approval, you cannot take it into your hands and say you must because you have the force. The government is there to enforce rules and not to break them”.
Providing further details, the Director of Development Control, Town-planner Mukhtar Galadima, who also accompanied the Minister on the visit, explained that the land was allocated to the Nigerian Police Force in 2018 for institutional development, but the Department of Development Control later declined to grant building approval due to the proximity of the high-tension power line to the land.
He said the Police, despite being denied a building plan and a notice served after the commencement of excavation, ignored the warnings and continued construction.
Town planner Galadima further disclosed that the Department of Engineering also wrote to the Police, informing them that their planned structures were located at the foot of a bridge intended to address severe flooding challenges in the area, adding that the warning was also ignored.
“Looking at the risk involved, we can’t just fold our arms because should anything happen, we would be held responsible. That’s why we had to react and we acted yesterday”, Galadima stated, revealing that he had to immediately contact his principal, the FCT Minister, to brief him after the FCT enforcement and security officers were detained by the Police on the site.
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Rabiu M. Hamza
Agency News
