Property owners and traders along the ever busy Nyanya interchange have until this week to vacate the premises, as the Federal Capital Territory Administration has vowed to remove all unapproved structures to make way for ongoing construction works in the area.
Chairman of the FCT Traffic Management Team, Comrade Ikharo Attah, said the vacation order became necessary following the return of worrisome traffic gridlock, occasioned by the contravening structures on right of way of the busy road.
Attah revealed that a stern order to immediately vacate the site have been given to owners of the affected structures that are mainly old structures made of mud, especially those who have received compensation for their property, and have been fully paid some months ago, in order for the road expansion work to go on.
According to him, the FCT traffic management team held an on the spot meeting with the Nyanya component made up large of the Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Commission, Area Commander of the Directorate of Road Traffic Services and the Police DPO in the area.
He said “We were briefed by the Ministry of Works and what we saw was that the inbound road by the Nyanya Market, there are some areas where they have issues of compensation for one or two structures, which they are working on. But the outbound road around the Nyanya interchange, that’s coming from the city towards Mararaba, they have paid compensation fully, and the people are just waiting for them to come, and they don’t really want to do it.
“They are still just hanging and staying around that particular area, which is in contravention. So everyone who has collected compensation particularly around the Nyanya interchange, where you have the pantakers (scavengers) they should all vacate, because we will be clearing them very soon.
“We would strongly be coming to remove them, because the Federal government through the Ministry of Works has paid them full compensation, so that the construction work can go on.
He stressed that FCT residents in the area are suffering from the traffic bottlenecks “occasioned by these people that have been paid, but refused to move, we are telling them to please move.
“The Ministry of Works have been giving them notices to quit, but we have given them our own to also quit the road side, so that the contractor can actually come in and do a good job, so we can have free flow of traffic as we are having at Airport and Kubwa roads.”
Source: The Abuja Inquirer