AMMC warns against extortion, illegal registration in Apo mechanic relocation
By Ukpono Ukpong
The Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) has issued a stern warning against extortion and illegal registration of traders and artisans during the ongoing Apo Mechanic Village relocation exercise.
AMMC Coordinator, Chief Felix Obuah, emphasized that only those operating within the designated road corridors of the village are eligible to benefit from the relocation to the new Wasa District site.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting yesterday, Obuah vowed to ensure that security agencies apprehend anyone involved in fraudulent activities, such as collecting money and promising land allocations to ineligible individuals.
He condemned the actions of unscrupulous union leaders accused of extorting unsuspecting traders with illegal fees ranging from ₦600,000 to ₦1,000,000, far above the official ₦300,000 non-refundable registration fee.
Obuah revealed that over 11,000 individuals had so far registered for the relocation exercise, despite the challenges posed by inflated lists and dubious claims, and reassured stakeholders of a transparent process to conclude the exercise by month-end.
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“As I speak to you, over 11,000 people have collected the registration forms. We put it a N300,000 Naira.
“We try to put this in to make sure that many people who are ghost names will not even apply in the first place. But as of today, over 11,000 have paid, That’s not enough.
“And many people are even using this as 419, they’re going to the back and collecting over N650,000but, and government is currently collecting 300,000.
“People are desperate. That’s why I came to tell them this is what we are doing. I will carry them along in every process, and at the end, whoever that is allocated this shop will be published”, the AMMC Coordinator stated during a meeting to update the traders on the enumeration exercise, proposed design and site plan among other things.
While acknowledging the difficulties he faced in dealing with the traders, he noted that over 45,000 names were submitted initially by different unions, describing such as inflated list.
According to him, the blotted names, among other false claims made the Council to conduct physical enumeration of the would-be affected traders.
“As a matter of fact, the meeting was actually meant to brief them how far we have gone with the arrangement of relocating them to Wasa.
So we invited the stakeholders of Apo traders, mainly all the association heads, to brief them on how far we have gone, the essence of the enumeration, the essence of the form and how many people have paid and what next we intend to do.
“It is purely for those of them in the road corridor and those of them in the buffer areas, as these forms are not meant for people who are not along the corridor.
“I have discovered that most of them have gone as far as collecting money from people who are not having business to do with Apo, just because they want to grab land especially some of them who have money”, he stated.
Declaring that the exercise would be concluded before the end of the month, Obuah, noted that: “the plan to relocate the traders that have suffered different set back since 25 years ago would be concluded by this administration.
“You can see the next day, if you are following the brekete family news, you can see what happened. They were able to be convinced, and they were pleading that they have seen the truth now that please can the AMMC Coordinator allow them to now pay.
“Rumour has it that those shops have been given out to government officials, to girlfriends and brothers, but I was able to make it plain to all of them, not even one, and the Minister is not interfering”.
