It was a free for all fight and a moment of hell for residents of Utako village on Wednesday, when they had to engage scavengers in a fight, to salvage their properties after the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) demolition bulldozers rammed into hundreds of illegal shanties.
Even the presence of security operatives at the demolition site could not scare the scavengers, who were seen snatching different items from their lawful owners who obviously were overwhelmed by the pains of the demolition.
Director, Department of Development Control, Muktar Galadima who noted quit notice had been given to the squatters beforehand to relocate. He also explained that the cleanup exercise was not just a routine one, but a special operation to remove all illegal structures and pave way for the original allottees to regain their land.
The Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement to FCT Minister, Ikharo Attah said the operation was also targeted at addressing perennial traffic and criminal activities in the area.
Attah who also doused the tension generated over speculation that the homes of the indigenous people within the village would be demolished, assured that only illegal structures on the land allocated to the FCT Police Command were earmarked for demolition.
He also added that the cleanup exercise would help to restore the environmental sanitation and aesthetic of the Utako District.
“We are only removing the illegal shanties to reclaim the land for the original allottees. We are not demolishing the houses of indigenous people. The clean up will also help to address the disturbing traffic gridlock and also criminal activities of miscreants in the place,” Attah said.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents
In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state…
Selfies, video calls and Chinese documentaries: The things you’ll meet onboard Lagos-Ibadan train
The Lagos-Ibadan railway was inaugurated recently for a full paid operation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation after about a year of free test-run. Our reporter joined the train to and fro Lagos from Ibadan and tells his experience in this report…
[ICYMI] Lekki Shootings: Why We Lied About Our Presence — General Taiwo
The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry probing the killings at Lekki Toll Gate, on Saturday resumed viewing of the 24hrs footage of the October 20, 2020 shooting of #EndSARS protesters by personnel of the Nigerian Army…
ICYMI: How We Carried Out The 1993 Nigerian Airways Hijack —Ogunderu
On Monday, October 25, 1993, in the heat of June 12 annulment agitations, four Nigerian youngsters, Richard Ajibola Ogunderu, Kabir Adenuga, Benneth Oluwadaisi and Kenny Razak-Lawal, did the unthinkable! They hijacked an Abuja-bound aircraft, the Nigerian Airways airbus A310, and diverted it to Niger Republic. How did they so it? Excerpts…
Sahabi Danladi Mahuta, a community mobiliser and APC chieftain. Mahuta spoke to select journalists at the sidelines of an Islamic conference in Abuja recently. Excerpts…
and then