Businesses operating in Maitama district in the Federal Capital Territory have been given 7-day ultimatum to relocate their businesses to the Central Business District or risk having them sealed.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) issued the quit notice.
The Acting Director, Department of Development Control of FCTA, Garba Kwamkur stormed the popular Gana street in Maitama on Tuesday to sensitize business operators to their original residential purposes.
He said the Department had a week ago served all the buildings illegally converted to commercial uses notifications to revert to residential purposes which they were meant for, but that they had failed to comply.
Kwamkur said they faced being sealed off unless they relocated to the Central Business District or Idu Industrial Estate as provided for in the FCT masterplan.
In a similar development, Kwamkur said over 200 hectares of land in the Federal Capital City had been encroached upon by land grabbers who had resorted to erecting unapproved structures around the Lugbe District.
He said over 150 criminals had encroached into areas meant for public facilities in the Sabon-Wuse part of the district.
He spoke to journalists after some structures were demolished. He said the demolition was part of efforts to sanitize the area in line with the FCT Administration’s pronouncement to incorporate Lugbe into the Federal Capital City proper.
“This area was planned for public facilities such as schools, markets, hospitals, and other public utilities, but land grabbers have encroached into the area and captured all the plots meant for public facilities and are developing them as housing estates thereby denying space for the necessary amenities that will be needed for the district in the future,” he said.
