Wike orders demolition of popular COVID-19 market in Area 11, Abuja
Minister of Federal Capital Territory Nyesom Wike has ordered the demolition of the popular COVID-19 market in Area 11, Abuja.
Director of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), Osi Braimah, disclosed this while speaking with journalists during the demolition of shanty stores built in the market.
“The removal of shanties and illegal settlements in Area 11 and some parts of the city is to curb the incessant insecurity faced by residents.
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“This is an ongoing exercise by various agencies of the FCT; AEPB has been given a marching order by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, to scale up demolition of all shanties, illegal settlements, and squatter camps in the FCT.
“We have been doing this for a long time, primarily because this scaling up will improve city sanitation and also cater for the attendant problem of insecurity,” he said.
Meanwhile, the minister had ordered FCTA to revoke unused plots of land, leading to top politicians, organisations and government agencies losing lands.
On Wednesday, customs officers led by the Acting Comptroller-General, Adewale Adeniyi, visited Wike to make a case that the affected land be returned.
Adeniyi requested land to build primary and secondary schools for the children of the more than 2,000 customs officers residing in the FCT.
“I read your letter on the revoked land, very bad; very bad; very bad, but what do I do? When we gave you the land, you refused to use it; FCT will now sell it to you, and when we give you Certificate of Ownership, you pay our ground rent.
“I will give you the opportunity to buy the land from FCT and give you the value of the land now,” he said.
He said that FCTA would support the service to achieve its aims and objectives, but lamented how government agencies were allocated land in FCT and refused to develop them.
On the land for school development, the minister assured the custom boss that it would be considered but on the condition that the agency would pledge to develop the land within a specific period.
Failure to comply, the minister said that the land would be revoked.
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