Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, has ordered the immediate demolition of houses built on waterways in Maitama and other flood-prone parts of Abuja, warning that senators and other influential property owners will not be spared.

Wike gave the directive on Tuesday during an inspection of areas affected by recent flooding in the capital.

He ordered the FCT Development Control Department to begin pulling down offending structures immediately and continue the exercise through Saturday.

“Any house that’s found on the water channel will go down. We will demolish all those houses found on the water channel. Some of them are senators. Some of them are big men,” Wike said.

“Whether there’s 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.”

The minister said the recent flooding exposed widespread violations of the Abuja Master Plan, including buildings erected on stormwater channels and drainage corridors.

Several mansions in Maitama Extension were submerged by flood over the weekend, with residents blaming indiscriminate construction and blocked drainage channels.

Wike said inspections showed that some natural drainage routes had been obstructed by developments.

“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.

He insisted that the status of property owners would not stop the enforcement exercise.

According to Wike, many of the affected structures had existed for years and were owned by wealthy Nigerians, but the government could no longer allow illegal developments to worsen flooding in the city.

The minister also directed relevant FCT agencies to immediately desilt identified drainage systems.

He warned residents and traders against dumping refuse in waterways, saying blocked drains and poor maintenance had compounded the impact of heavy rainfall.

Wike acknowledged that flooding could result from natural factors, including unusually heavy rainfall and climate change, but said human activities had significantly worsened the situation.

“Flood could be a natural disaster,” he said, adding that “man-made factors” were also responsible for the scale of the damage.