Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, has launched a decisive offensive against what he described as the "illegal and reckless" construction of buildings on designated waterways in Abuja, ordering the immediate demolition of all structures blocking drainage channels in Maitama and other flood-prone areas of the nation's capital. The directive, issued on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, during an inspection of areas affected by the weekend flooding in Maitama, set a strict deadline of Saturday for the complete removal of all obstructive buildings.
The minister's order comes just days after heavy rainfall on Saturday, August 15, turned major roads in Abuja into rivers, submerging luxury vehicles and forcing businesses to close. In Maitama Extension, several mansions were flooded, and residents attributed the disaster to a blocked canal that had been covered for the construction of buildings allegedly linked to a senator. During his inspection, Wike personally visited a designated drainage channel where a structure had been erected despite the plot being revoked in 2011. A sign at the site read: "DRAINAGE AREA KEEP OFF! NOTE – PLOT 4508 A06 REVOKED (22/12/2011) DUE TO OVERRIDING PUBLIC INTEREST."
Wike was unequivocal in his warning to property owners. "We will demolish all those houses found on the water channel. Some of them are senators. Some of them are big men," he declared. He insisted that the enforcement would proceed regardless of the political season, rejecting suggestions that demolition should be delayed because of elections. "Whether there's an election or there's no election, all those houses will go down. Heaven will not fall. Rather, heaven will be at peace that the right thing has been done," he said.
The minister directed the FCT Development Control Department to begin the demolition exercise immediately and complete it by Saturday. "From today to Saturday, if Development Control delays, let them find any excuse to run away. They cannot," he warned. Wike said that inspections showed that some property owners had blocked channels specifically designed to convey stormwater. He explained that human activities had significantly worsened the flooding situation in the nation's capital, pointing to construction on waterways, development in prohibited areas, failure to desilt drainage systems, and indiscriminate dumping of refuse as major contributing factors. "Unfortunately, we have gone there, and we have seen how people have blocked channels where, in the Master Plan, that is the right way where the water is supposed to be channelled," he said.
While acknowledging that climate change and unusually heavy rainfall had contributed to the flooding, Wike stressed that human actions had significantly worsened its impact. "Flood could be a natural disaster," he said, citing flooding incidents in Dubai, the United States and the United Kingdom, "but that is not to say that there are no man-made factors. There are." He also rejected attempts to portray the recent flooding as a new phenomenon in Abuja, but insisted that the present administration had the political will to confront the problem. "If there is one minister that has that political will, I have. I have the political will," he declared.
The demolition exercise has begun in Maitama, marking the first phase of a broader enforcement operation expected to extend to other parts of Abuja where buildings and other structures have been identified as obstructing waterways. The FCT Administration has maintained that structures built on drainage channels and waterways pose significant risks to effective flood management and undermine the city's urban planning framework. The operation has drawn mixed reactions, with some residents welcoming the move while others have raised concerns over the displacement of occupants.
The minister's decision follows public outcry over the weekend flooding that devastated parts of Maitama, Wuse 2, Gudu, and Lokogoma. Senator Ireti Kingibe, representing the FCT senatorial district, had earlier blamed the flooding on the departure from the Abuja Master Plan, pointing to construction on green areas and flood channels as the primary cause. But Wike's directive sends an unambiguous message: the era of impunity for property developers, regardless of their social or political status, is over in the Federal Capital Territory. As he put it, "Heaven will not fall" – but for those who built on waterways, their houses certainly will.
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