Authorities of the Borno Geographic Information Service (BOGIS) said a total of 1,330 houses built along river banks in Maiduguri city were demolished in fear of floods and geotechnical risks.
The demolition exercise, which started along the Bama Road, continued on Friday off-Damboa Road where many houses along a river were pulled down.
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Governor Babagana Zulum, who was at the demolition site in Daboa Road, said there were a lot of risks in living too close to a river apart from floods.
He said: “People are building on the waterways and if nothing is being done, the whole state capital will be flooded during the rainy season.”
Zulum said people whose houses were pulled down, were actually given notices to either stop construction works or vacate the houses “since last year.”
He said all efforts by the government to convince resident to stop building structures in unauthorized places “proved abortive and we are here this morning to destroy all illegal structures.”
Executive Secretary, BOGIS, Engineer Adam Bababe, who confirmed that a total of 1,330 houses built along river banks were demolished, said the exercise was conducted to avoid flood hazard during the rainy season.
He said several land agents and Bulamas (ward heads), who sold parcels of land, to people in unauthorized places have been sanctioned.
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