Traders and staff of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) were left stranded when they went to work Monday morning, only to discover that the FCT Ministerial Taskforce on city sanitation’s bulldozers were pulling down a mini-market on the land belonging to the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) Area 11 close to FCT Administration secretariat.
During the demolition exercise, on Monday, tagged ‘city clean up’, the traders mostly food vendors told journalists that they were given three months by the Taskforce team to vacate the area, but they were still waiting for the administration to allocate another place to them.
A trader, Rafat Mohammed said she was worried because there is nowhere for her to start up, “This is worrying, where will I go and start? Government is supposed to provide an alternative place for us before the demolition,” she lamented.
One of the traders and leader, Malam Ibrahim Lawal who was expressing his anger over the incident, admitted that the FCT Administration gave them a notice of three months but it was not yet time.
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Lawal said: “I feel very bad because we were given three months but is not up to the three months. We were following up on the issue till late last week, the people that came told us that they were sent by the minister, others said the minister is not aware of the demolition, how come? The minister promised us land, we have not seen it,” he said.
Fielding questions from journalists after the exercise, the Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement to the minister of FCT, Ikharo Attah explained that the area which is near the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) has constituted a nuisance in the area.
He said pulling down the illegal structures will bring about sanity in the area that has been converted into a mini-market which is against the master plan.
“This place is constituting nuisances in Area 11, it started as a small restaurant gradually it metamorphosed into a market, and now it has become a serious challenge.
“The activities on this single plot of land have become a serious issue, the minister of FCT Malam Mohammad Bello has directed that we should clear the place, such illegality will not stand. We gave them a warning before coming.”
On what the place will be used for after the cleaning, Attah said the land belongs to National Council for Women Societies (NCWS), and the council will decide on what to be done with the plot.
A customer who was at the scene, Charles Olili said the place was the only nearby restaurant where its food is affordable, but he explained that government has powers to decide what is good for the people, “It is a legal plot of land but has been turned into an illegal market,” he said.
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Traders, workers stranded as FCTA bulldozers demolish Area 11 mini-market
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Traders, workers stranded as FCTA bulldozers demolish Area 11 mini-market
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