THE Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has given a two-week ultimatum to traders at the Mabushi Cashew Forest Pantaker in Abuja to vacate the area.
Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement Ikharo Attah said on Friday that the area was serving as a criminal hideout and would be demolished in two weeks.
Also present at the scene was the Assistant Director of Enforcement, Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), Kaka Bello.
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He said the AEPB would constantly monitor the area to ensure compliance.
“The movement and evacuation will be in phases; before the end of the two weeks, every batch must go. All their items must be evaluated, including the heavy-duty machines,” he said.
To restore the distorted Abuja Masterplan, demolition of buildings and other structures by the FCT administration has become a regular occurrence in the nation’s capital territory.
Several demolition exercises have been carried out in Abuja, including the pulling down of several shops along the Tunde Idiagbon Way in Utako, which left many traders displaced in July.
After a demolition exercise in Apo-Dutse in June, the FCTA had threatened to revoke ownership of empty plots in the area if they were not developed.
In May, a mini market was demolished at Area 11, Abuja.
Attah had said the market was not captured in the Abuja Masterplan and constituted public nuisance.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.