By Taofeek Lawal, Abuja
For allegedly contravening the Federal Capital Territory(FCT) Land Use Act, the Development Control Department of the FCT Administration on Tuesday sealed off four developed properties in Maitama District, a highbrow area in the nation’s capital city.
The affected property are: Ten Room Hotel; Paris Choice Hotel and Resorts; Six Club and Restaurants; and Deluxe Colours, a paint making firm.
The FCTA officials, who were accompanied by a team of armed security personnel gave the occupants of the buildings twenty minutes to vacate them, before the properties were sealed off.
The chief estate ffficer, Development Control Department, Hussaini Dalhat, said the sealed property were in contravention of land use Act, because they had illegally converted private residences into commercial uses.
Dalhat who said the affected property were served with appropriate notices, said: “We served necessary abatement notices on four of them, precisely on the 21st of March,2021, we gave them grace of 21 days to revert to the approved use, warning that otherwise sanctions will be taken against them. The (Abuja) master plan has been bastardised, so we want to see that they have put things according to the approved plan for the plots. So what we are doing now is going to be a continuous exercise.”
“So far, four contravening property have been sealed. This one on number 12a Kastina Ala Crescent, you can see there is no signage or anything, so you might assume that it is just a residential building, it’s not as it’s referred to as Ten Room Hotel, which is in violation of land use Act. The second one is Paris Choice Hotel and Resorts at Owena Street, Maitama which is supposed to be a residential building. The other ones are Six Club and Restaurants, and Deluxe Colours are located within the same premises (plot of land) in the area,” Dalhat added.
He maintained that the defaulting property should revert to the original use of the plots, as they are already under seal until they revert accordingly.