THE Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) demolished the Kasuwan Dare market in the Asokoro area of Abuja on Tuesday, August 29.
The director of Department of Development Control, Mukhtar Galadima, said the market was illegally set up and was becoming a threat to residents as it was now being used as a haven by criminals and drug dealers.
“The operation will help us get rid of the hoodlums and drug dealers that have taken over the place. We had demolished the place about three times, but they rebuilt and continued their activities. This time around, the demolished market will remain demolished. We need to sanitise the place and enhance the aesthetic quality of the environment.
“It is also part of the current administration’s policy of sanitising the city, and this is one of the areas where we are beginning the exercise,” he said.
On his first day in office, the newly inaugurated FCT Minister Nyesom Wike threatened to demolish illegally built houses and warned against the indiscriminate situation of markets.
He said his administration would be committed to restoring the Abuja Masterplan while promising to address security and other challenges in the FCT.
“All those people who are distorting the master plan of Abuja, too bad. Too bad. If you know you have built where you are not supposed to build, it will go down. Be you minister of anywhere, be an ambassador; if you know you have developed where you are not supposed to develop, your house must go down,” Wike warned on Monday, August 21.
The Minister, again, reiterated the importance of demolishing illegal structures following the collapse of a two-storey building in the Garki area of the FCT on
“It is important that when the government says they will take actions on certain areas that we believe are illegal to build or buildings that don’t comply with the standard, it is not as if anybody has any personal vendetta,” he said.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org or @ije_le on Twitter.