By Stanley Onyekwere
Just few months after some suspected miscreants assaulted and broke a Police Officer’s head, injuring other task force members of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), a reinforced team yesterday revisited and demolished several illegal structures in the community.
It was gathered that Durumi Community had been one area where attempts by the Taskforce team to enforce sanitation and other Urban and Regional Planning laws, have always been strongly resisted by irate youth.
It was also learnt that FCTA’s insistence on revisiting the community, was to clear all shanties and places where criminal elements take refuge.
Also, the taskforce demolished notorious illegal market, popularly known as “ Kasuwa Dare”, located in Asokoro District, for allegedly harbouring criminal elements that threaten the peace of residents within the neighbourhood.
Explaining the exercise, Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement to FCT Minister, Ikharo Attah, said the operations were part of the ongoing fight against insecurity in the city.
Attah noted that while Durumi Community was over due for thorough sanitation, the Asokoro illegal market was too notorious to be left in a highbrow district.
He noted that the FCT Administration remains committed to its resolve to spare houses belonging to indigenous people, those who defiantly patronise illegal lands will be made to pay heavily for such negligence.
According to him “ We removed some shanties and illegal structures around Durumi 3 to free the area of criminal activities.
“ The Chiefs have made some appeal that they will work with us to remove the illegal structures, and we are considering that .
“ We want to have a clean FCT. We trust the Chiefs to abide by what we have agreed on. We will continue to engage them and other Area Council Officials .
“ We have tried as much as possible to avoid touching houses belonging to indigenous people, because they have the right to be compensated and resettled.
“ In Asokoro we have gotten lots of complaints that criminal elements gather here and attack not only VIPs, but other Nigerians.
“ Even indigenous people have complained that they have been robbed by criminals from the Kasuwa Dare. That is why we are clearing the place”.
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