THE Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has announced plans to pull down all illegal settlements, particularly shanties that harbour criminals and hinder development projects in the nation’s capital.
The FCTA, in a statement released on Monday, August 18, by Lere Olayinka, the Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, said the onslaught on criminal hideouts in Abuja will continue.
The FCTA described as worrisome, security threats from parts of Durumi District, particularly Area 1 in Garki District, saying, “High-level criminal activities such as robbery, carjacking, drug peddling and other heinous crimes with its attendant security implications to law-abiding FCT residents cannot be allowed to continue.”
According to the statement, in his bid to ensure a safer FCT, Wike set up a Stakeholders Committee, comprising heads of security agencies, FCTA officials, Civil Society Organisations, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), and others, to work with the government for residents’ safety.
It said the committee found out that apart from preventing land allottees from making use of their lands and the government from carrying out developmental projects, the shanties in Area 1, Durumi, had become an operational base for criminals, especially kidnappers, drug peddlers, and one-chance operators.
“Three months ago, when security agencies carried out an operation in Area 1, Durumi, over 120 miscreants were arrested. Among those arrested in the operation that lasted over three hours were drug peddlers, one-chance operators, carjackers and armed robbers.
“Seven stolen vehicles and 79 stolen motorcycles were recovered, while 155 ATM cards were recovered. These ATM cards were those snatched from victims of one-chance operators, using the settlement as their base,” the FCTA stated.
The government lamented that despite the earlier demolition of some shanties in the Durumi area, the structures had been rebuilt, and the criminals had regrouped, rendering the area uninhabitable for law-abiding citizens.
It added that the land, allocated over 20 years ago, was being occupied by illegal settlers and criminals, preventing the rightful allottees from utilising their properties.
In addition to private land allottees, the FCTA said government agencies were facing challenges in using their land in the area.
The ICIR reported in 2022 that the FCTA demolished an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in the Durumi area.
During the exercise, the former Executive Secretary, Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Shehu Samad, said the camp was located on the site of a dual road carriage corridor with a rail modal.
He noted that some residents of the area were not genuine IDPs.
Durumi IDP camp was established in 2014, after attacks on villages in the North-East by insurgents.
The camp accommodates nearly 2,000 people.
In 2021, The ICIR reported how the camp raised some promising children who stood little chance to beat the odds against them.
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