The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) has explained that the demolished Abuja mansion of estranged lover of Nollywood actor, Tonto Dike, Prince Joseph Kpokpogiri, was due to lack of proper building plan.
Officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) pulled down the multi-million-naira mansion in Abuja on Saturday morning.
The Managing Director of FHA, Gbenga Ashafa, said the plot of land originally belonged to FHA, adding that proper building plan was not approved before the mansion was erected.
FHA said notices to stop work at the Guzape District of Abuja were served at different stages and time of the work, but Kpokpogiri refused to comply.
The Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Development Authority, Engr. Shehu Hadi, who was also in the team that visited the site, said that FHA was notified about the road alignment done long ago.
Hadi noted that the road alignment, which the demolished building obstructs, was designed to serve as an important bypass to Abuja-Keffi axis.
He added that any plan to realign the road because of the building would be difficult and not fair judgement to those that it would affect, considering that the demolished building was not in existence earlier when the plan started.
Similarly, the director of the FCT Development Control, Muktar Galadima, who said the demolition was a result of inter-agency collaboration, noted that the mansion sitting on a rock in the fast-developing district, is an obstruction to a major road network connecting the popular Apo bridge to many parts of the city.
However, Kpokpogiri said the demolition of the over N700 million property was an act of oppression by an individual who sought to buy it.
He said he would fight to get justice for the demolished building.
