The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on Thursday demolished over 300 illegal structures in a densely populated Bassa-Jiwa village, near the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

Most of the affected structures were residential buildings, shanties, batchers and kiosks sitting on the right of way (ROW), under train bridge, and pedestrian crossing in and around the Village, off the Airport road.

Addressing newsmen at the scene of the demolition, the Director, FCTA Development Control Department, Murkhtar Galadima, said the structures removed were part of the 500 uncontrolled developments marked for demolition in the area.

Galadima said that adequate notice was issued to the occupant of the illegal structures prior to the demolition.

“It is part of our regular exercise to sanitise the city, and in furtherance of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport expansion project being awarded by the Federal Executive Council.

” We are to clear all these uncontrolled developments before the commencement of the project.

“There are over 500 and we have so far removed close to 350, and we are coming to continue with the marking and removals.”

Earlier, Mr Ikharo Attah, the Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring Inspection and Enforcement to the FCT Minister, noted that the area has a multiple level of illegality.

” As underneath the main train bridge connecting the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport is full of shanties and the whole community has turned into shanty, and being security threat.

“The whole community is wrongly built, thereby defacing the area, as the community has been expanding extremely. Although, good people are in the community, but the bad ones have easy access to hide and commit havoc.

“Even the native Chief and some of the locals agreed that Bassa- Jiwa needed to be cleaned, and did that while respecting some of the previous markings we had in the community for resettlement and compensation of some indigenous persons.”

Reacting to the development,

Dauda Gimba, Chief of Bassa- Jiwa Village, thanked the FCTA officials for working together with the indigenous inhabitants of the community during the exercise.

“It is for our good. Like the removal of the batchers under the bridge and along the road corridors have open up and brought back sanity to the area.

“Even though the exercise also affected me, as they demolished my structures including that of my Secretary, but I still thank God that they came and notified us, and we worked together with them to ensure compliance.

“What we want the government to do for us is that they should be on ground and ensure that nobody is allowed to erect any structure in the areas cleared.”