Despite government’s effort through the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to rid Mpape of illegal structures and give it a proper town planning setting, residents are still adamant in setting up illegal structures along the road corridors even after the last demolition exercise carried out barely a week ago.
The Department of Development Control and security of the FCTA have again swung in action to continue the demolition exercise and total evacuation of structures that threatens public sanitation and security.
In a statement by the The Chairman of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) Ministerial Task Force on City Sanitation, Mr Ikharo Attah, who led the sanitation team, the demolition of Mpape will persist till December, 2021, due to the return of shanties barely one week after the last demolition.
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Mr Attah who explained that, they are back to Mpape for what appears to be the most massive job since they arrived at the community two weeks ago, and begged residents of the area to vacate the road side where they are having enormous challenges because of the scrap market sitting on the road shoulders, has disclosed that the exercise which was originally planned for three weeks would be extended to discourage the reemergence of illegal structures along the Mpape road corridor.
“The obstructions on the road are also occasioned by the old shanty market that is bastardised in terms of urban and regional town planning practices, so we had to touch the panteka market, as well as the shanty market which are clearly a violation the Abuja master plan.
“We thought the cleanup in Mpape will be done in three weeks, but what we have seen in the last week shows that the ‘Operation Cleanup Mpape’ will last till the end of this year. We can’t leave Mpape till the end of this year, we may not be standing here every day, but it will be routine and periodic cleanup.”
Attah further disclose that the Minister of FCT, Malam Muhammad Bello, had handed over Mpape to the task team to clean up and report back to him, and that if he was not satisfied, the demolition would continue till next year.
Apart from the demolition of makeshift structures, the panteka market, brothels and places of worship were also affected in the demolition exercise.
The panteka market is however said to be notorious for the sale of stolen goods and dealing in illicit drugs.
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The Secretary, Command and Control of the FCT Security Department, Mr Peter Olujimi, assured that the sustained cleanup operations would dislodge miscreants and criminals from their hideouts.
