The market located at Hassan Musa Katsina Street, near Kpaduma II in Asokoro Extension, Abuja, was alleged to have harboured suspected hoodlums and drug dealers.
Officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) under the FCT Minister and former Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, have demolished a market in the Asokoro area of Abuja.
The market located at Hassan Musa Katsina Street, near Kpaduma II in Asokoro Extension, Abuja, was alleged to have harboured suspected hoodlums and drug dealers.
Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria, the Director, Department of Development Control, Mr Mukhtar Galadima, said the market was becoming a threat to the residents of the area and passerby.
He said the area was turned into a haven for criminal activities despite relentless efforts by the FCT Administration to sanitise the area.
According to him, the miscreants operating in the area were affecting the aesthetic quality of the entire environment, adding that the Administration would not allow it to continue.
“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 the nuisances 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 we are commencing the exercise,” he said.
SaharaReporters had on Tuesday reported that the FCTA also demolished a fully completed multimillion naira duplex for building in an alleged unapproved plot of land.
The building, located on Plot 226, Cadastral Zone A02 Wuse 1, Wuse, Zone 6 District, is said to belong to Oba Oyebade Lipede, the Alake of Egba land, but was allegedly taken over by one Alhaji Ibrahim Mohammed Kamba and Alhaji Ademu Teku, who illegally constructed the duplex against all warnings.
The Director, Department of Development Control, Galadima, had said his team carried out an extensive investigation to ascertain the original owner of the plot, given varying claims by the parties.
He had said the FCTA would not consider the status of any defaulting developer once development rules and regulations were violated.
SaharaReporters had on Monday reported that the FCDA also directed its officials to compile a list of serviced and vacant plots of land as well as abandoned buildings within their districts.
The FCDA had given the order to “all the sector monitors” asking them to submit the list of serviced and vacant plots of land within their districts, according to a memo seen by SaharaReporters.