The Kano State Urban Planning and Development Authority, KNUPDA, has uncovered 60 new layouts under construction.
According to KNUPDA, the illegal layouts, being curved out by individuals whose identities are not yet known, have triggered security threats in the state.
Kano state government has constituted a strong ad-hoc committee entrusted to unravel illegal layouts in the state with a view to sanitizing the city from needless structures obstructing the city plans.
Speaking while unveiling the committee on Wednesday, Managing Director, KNUPDA, Ibrahim Yakubu Adamu, hinted that out of the 60 illegal layouts uncovered, owners of 40 have responded to the committee’s invitation while others refused to honour the invitation.
Adamu added that to further inspect and control the rate of illegal layouts, the state government also set up a designated court to try those in the illegal layouts business with a harsh punishment of six months imprisonment without an option of fine.
He said, “Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, has given us full powers to operate and ensure that we sanitize the state from the rampant unplanned building of layouts and anybody found wanting of the law will surely be punished.”
Adamu explained that the government has reactivated an existing law of 2011, which gives it full powers to arrest and prosecute anybody who abuses the State Building planning.
However, he said to complement the stoppage of the illegal layouts across the state, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, has approved the building of two new layouts that will be fully channelled with all the necessary infrastructural development needs.
He warned that his office ”would hesitate to fully apply the enforcement laws on anybody who refuses to comply with the directives against illegal layouts business and don’t forget that the punishment is 3-6 months imprisonment without an option of fine”.