The Abuja earth tremors and geological surveys (II)

The Katampe Extension is located at the foot of the Aso-Bwari mountain ranges. As reported two months ago, a resident stated that a tremor also occurred in the area in 2020. That was between the two seismic activities of September 2018 and September 2024 at Mpape. That cannot be verified as a minor earthquake, because the Katampe Extension, Usuma and Dawaki districts are areas well-known for illegal rock blasting by notorious land grabbers, which is also capable of vibrating the earth.

Between November and December 2022, the authority was inundated with outcries from the residents. Notorious land grabbers of all kinds, swamped the hilly environment, trying to criminally create residential lands, by using dynamites to blast the surrounding rocks. There was a proliferation of illegal quarries and estate developments causing serious environmental challenges. 

The consequences were the vibration of the earth within the surrounding neighbourhood, leading to development of cracks in the walls of some of the surrounding houses. The affected areas were neighbouring districts to Mpape, located along the same mountainous ranges. Obviously, they would be geologically part of the same fold during their formation. As such a vibration triggered at one end could have a ripple effect at the other.

The rule of nature, coupled with the composition of underlying rocks, could also determine the nature of the impact. More so that the Abuja Master Plan indicated the presence of tectonic ridges along the axis. What does that entail? This is our inquisition. More and better clarifications are required from the Nigerian, or perhaps, the US geological surveys.

• The Abuja earth tremors and geological surveys (I)
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In a recent exposure, we were informed of the ongoing division of the African continent around the East African Rift Valley, which started thousands of years ago and which would definitely actualise in thousands of years to come, in the phenomenon of the Plate Tectonics and Continental Drift. This was part of my presentation as the then Coordinator of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), during the FCT World Earth Day on May 4, 2023.

How are we sure of the stability of our crust in our locality, hundreds of depths beneath our surface? How are we sure that it does not extend and link up with the unstable Cameroonian volcanic region around Mount Nyos, or the Mid-continental plate region? Such that any disturbance of the earth in our locality could trigger the unwanted phenomenon if not now, many years to come? We must continue our research on the causes and future consequences of the earth tremors already experienced here.

Be that as it may, there is a mega violation from the original guidelines for the Abuja City development as issued by the IPA, which presented the geological interpretation in the Master plan. That the area is earmarked for reservation, not physical developments as is widely the case now. It was a deliberate attempt made by IPA, to protect the environment at the same time accommodate the natural landscape, with benefits of accentuation of the beauty of the city.

In order to underscore the importance attached to ensuring that the city’s physical development is limited to the areas earmarked, outer development limits were solidly defined and made very easy for identification by the two outer expressways radiating along north-west and south-west directions, and enclosing phase I to V of the City development.

Notwithstanding our university and professional qualifications as Town Planners. Those of us engaged in the service of the FCDA, in the Land Planning and Survey Department, were given special orientation on the structural elements of the Abuja Master Plan, and to ensure that developers comply with all the development guidelines. The former department was later fragmented to form the present URP Department, Lands, Surveys and Mapping, AGIS, Development Control, Resettlement, Parks and Recreations, and Environmental Protection Board. That special orientation was stopped since the early 90s.

As citizens of this great country, we must pride ourselves on the accomplishment of building our new capital city in such a record time in African history. On the other hand, it is a negative story when we consider the distortion or the destruction we have caused to the natural environment. We may not be aware that our actions are triggering geological activities below the earth crust, with future catastrophic consequences. Hence, it becomes sacrosanct to abide by the development regulations.

As a result of the violations in the affected areas, in December 2022, the FCT minister ordered investigation, with the creation of the Department of Solid Minerals and Allied Matters, charged with regulations of all quarrying activities. Subsequently, orders were made for the removal of all the affected developments.

The Nigerian Geological Surveys Agency (NGSA) is urged to publicly highlight the adverse consequences of proliferation of quarries in those areas, in relation to the Abuja Mpape land tremors. Also, the current FCT administration is urged to sustain the enforcement action commenced by the previous administration in these districts as a means of mitigation to the recurring natural disasters.

Concluded.