The Federal Capital Development Authority has demolished two residential buildings and three churches in Gyadna, a community in the Abuja Metropolitan Area Council.
The buildings were pulled down around 2pm on Tuesday by FCDA officials who were accompanied by armed policemen.
But owners of the buildings said they were not given prior notice before the buildings were destroyed.
One of them, Johnson Oyewole, whose four-bedroom bungalow was mowed down, said he was being victimised for petitioning the National Assembly over an alleged fraud perpetrated by FCDA officials in the payment of compensation to homeowners in the community.
Oyewole explained that he had just stepped out to get something when a neighbour phoned him that his house was being pulled down.
He stated, “I was not given any prior notice about the demolition. I had just stepped out when they came with their bulldozers and brought my apartment down.
“They did not allow me to salvage any of my personal effects, including clothes, documents, furniture, foodstuff, television set and other things. Everything was buried under the rubble.
“To prove that it was an act of mischief and wickedness, a building that had been marked for demolition was spared while mine was destroyed. They demolished the house because I challenged the fraud being perpetrated in the compensation scheme for landlords in Gyadna.
“The case is still being probed by the National Assembly, Public Complaints Commission, National Human Rights Commission and other agencies, but FCDA disregarded due process.”
Another victim, Mr Peter Ekeh, lamented the demolition of his seven-room bungalow, stating that he was not given advance notice.
Ekeh, who was salvaging some possessions from the rubble alongside his wife and daughter when PUNCH Metro got to the scene, admitted that he had been compensated by the FCDA.
He, however, noted that 30 per cent of the money was taken by “the youth and chief in Gyadna.”
The Pastor of Evangelism Miracle Bible Revelation Movement, Kelechi Okpara, said his church and apartment were demolished while he was inside the house.
“The officials did not give me advance notice before the demolition. My wife just had a baby about two weeks ago; now, I don’t have a place to stay,” he lamented as sympathisers and church members salvaged items from the rubble.
The Director, Development Control Department, FCDA, Kwamkur Garba, could not be reached for comment on Wednesday as calls to his phone rang out.
He had yet to respond to a text message seeking his reaction to the allegations levelled against his office.
