NEMA defends demolition of illegal structures in Abuja

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said on Thursday the ongoing demolition of illegal structures in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was aimed at tackling the problem of flooding in the city.

The NEMA Coordinator in the FCT, Alhaji Abbas Idriss, stated this at a gathering hosted by the agency as part of activities marking the 2022 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR).

He, however, said the FCT has not witnessed any death from the incident.

Floods have killed more than 300 people and displaced hundreds of thousands others in Anambra, Bauchi, Gombe, and Kogi States since June.

Idriss said: “Disaster risk reduction and management is a bottom-up strategy. We have to make sure that we inculcate the habit into our locals, to ensure that we are the first respondents and most vulnerable when it (disaster) happens.

“Liaising with Nimet, and as soon as we get the early warning, which is prompted to do the early action, we promptly inform those Local Emergency Management Committee and volunteers at the local levels to be at alert, by getting prepared and putting all strategies in place, to ensure that it is not devastating.

READ ALSO: FCTA demolishes 2,000 illegal structures in Abuja

“It is one of those strategies that this year in the FCT, we have not witnessed any death/ recorded any dead person, as a result of flooding in FCT.

“On daily, there are a lot of demolitions going on in the FCT. This is also strategic, because we discovered that having planned Abuja very well, there is no point to say that we are having obstructions on water flowing to its discharge point, because of the activities of some residents.

“Therefore, we got the political will from the FCT Minister, that anything that is obstructing water from getting to its discharge point should be removed immediately.

“This is what is being done, and it is going to be sustained so that we can have a very safe federal capital territory. Even if it is an entire estate that is sitting on waterways, it is going to be removed.

“We removed over 250 houses in Lokogoma District, and it is going to be a continuous exercise. Only last week, we removed some structures also at Life camp and so many other places. That is the only way we can have a clean society, and the only way we can be able to fight the negatives of climate change.”

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