Mayhem as mob attacks Attah’s Team at Nyanya for clearing makeshift Tricycle park

By Stanley Onyekwere

Chairman, FCT Ministerial Task Team, Comrade Ikharo Attah and his team escaped death by the whiskers yesterday, when an angry mob attacked them, during the removal of illegal tricycle otherwise known as Keke NAPEP park and mechanic workshop at the Nyanya bridge interchange.
The exercise, which was to rid the highway of distortions and environmental nuisances turned violent, when some of the affected people and sympathisers began throwing stones at the Team including journalists covering the exercise, resulting in the destruction of the official vehicle of the Chairman.
As expected, in the heat of the emerging situation the busy area was thrown into panic mood as people ran helter skelter, in an attempt to escape the flying stones.
However, it took the timely intervention of the security personnel and Enforcement personnel of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) that accompanied the Task Team to halt the situation from going out of hand.
It was observed that most those affected were the Keke NAPEP operators and technicians and petty traders, who allegedly turned the place to makeshift workshops, shopping centre and restaurants.
Speaking with journalists after the exercise, the chairman FCT Task team, Comrade Ikharo Attah, who described the incident as unfortunate, said his team cannot be deterred by the development as sanitising Abuja is a must task to achieve.
He said that FCT project is a project that must be owned and key into by everyone, because FCT is very important to majority Nigerians than to leave it in the hands of few to go down.
Similarly, Head of operations, Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), Kaka Bello, assured that the cleared site would be handed over to Parks and Recreation Development of the FCT Administration, for maintenance.
Bello maintained that the Board will sustain the effort by not relenting on continuous enforcement in the area.
He adds: “You Will recall that three weeks ago the task team gave the tricycles riders one week ultimatum to relocate from the place.”