Flood risk looms in Abuja as developers turn canal into road in Maitama extension

Human rights activist and lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, has raised concerns over what he described as a serious violation of the Abuja Master Plan following the alleged construction of multiple residential buildings on a designated green area in Maitama Extension, Abuja.

In a statement on Friday, Adeyanju disclosed that about 20 duplexes are currently under construction within the green zone, warning that the development poses grave environmental risks to the area.

According to him, the situation has been worsened by the developers’ decision to convert a natural drainage canal into an access road after realising that the estate had no proper road network.

“I have just discovered that about 20 duplexes are being constructed on a designated green area in Maitama Extension.

Even more alarming is the fact that the developers have now realised there is no access road to the estate and have resorted to converting a canal into a road,” Adeyanju said.

He cautioned that the alteration of the natural water channel could trigger severe flooding during the rainy season, with devastating consequences for residents of Maitama Extension.

“One can only imagine the environmental disaster and severe flooding that Maitama Extension will face during the rainy season.

How do you fence off a green area and then proceed to turn a natural water channel into a road, all in the name of greed?” he added.

Adeyanju described the development as a clear distortion of the Abuja Master Plan and questioned the role of the Development Control Department in approving such a project.

“This is a blatant distortion of the Abuja Master Plan, and it raises serious questions about how Development Control could have approved such a project in the first place,” he stated.

He further alleged that the green area was allocated for residential development under the current administration, claiming that Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, approved the allocation.

“Wike allocated a green area to someone to build residential on it,” Adeyanju alleged.

As of the time of filing this report, the FCT Administration and the Development Control Department had not issued an official response to the allegations.