Lockdown violations: FCT Enforcement Team dismantles Asokoro street market

By Stanley Onyekwere

For alleged violation of prevailing COVID-19 lockdown and movement restriction order, the FCT Enforcement Team yesterday demolished a popular makeshift street market located at AYA Junction, in Asokoro District of the nation’s capital city.
Speaking during the exercise, leader of the Team, Ikharo Attah said the demolition became necessary to stop community transmission of the dreaded COVID-19, considering the fact that the place is not just a market, but has been turned into an illegal home to many of the traders.
Attah noted that FCT administration with a deed sense of humanity had given the traders quit notice since January to vacate the place, but they refused to leave.
He added that demolishing the place was in the interest of the citizenry, especially as some of the active cases of COVID 19 were reportedly found in Asokoro.
He explained that at the wake of COVID 19 pandemic, it was discovered that many of the traders have converted the makeshift shops to living houses. He noted that the despite the lockdown, the places were becoming dangerously overcrowded.
According to him, the latest discovery made, showed that the place was mot just overcrowded against health protocols in this period of pandemic, but it has become a hide out for criminals.
“We gave them quit notice long before the lockdown because it was defacing the place with all the horrible shanties you can see here.
“After about four adjustments of quit notices, we had to quickly come and clean up the place. What we are seeing here is making the lockdown enforcement very difficult.
“We are cleaning the place for their own safety because this ought to be a road interchange, but they turned it to a horrible market.
“This place has become excessively crowded and is not safe for the people in the advent of this deadly Coronavirus pandemic. We had asked them to leave the place and go home, but they refused to go.
“This place has also turned a very dangerous hid out for criminals and with the authority of FCTA we have to clean up the place to enable them go to their various home and be safe”, he stated.