The Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) yesterday demolished an illegal informal market in front of Lugbe Federal Housing Authority (FHA).
The demolition of the market is in continuation of the “Clean and Green Greater Abuja” sanitation campaign, which covers the six area councils of the metropolis.
A trader affected by the demolition, Mohammed Shekarau said FHA residents would be affected by the exercise as the market made shopping very convenient for them.
He said, “Even though we know we’re staying here illegally, the market is quite useful for people who reside in the FHA.”
The secretary-general, FHA Hawkers Association, Titus Iheanacho, said they would comply with the directive of the FCT administration to vacate the place.
“There’s no problem with the exercise, we will comply with the FCTA. We have been allotted land by the FHA environmental (Environmental health office), beside the garage to build our informal (canopy) market. So we would move there within the shortest possible time,” Iheanacho said.
During the exercise, LEADERSHIP observed that some uncompleted structures belonging to the FHA were also affected.
Speaking with journalists on site, the coordinator, AMMC, Arch. Reuben Okoya, said the structures were demolished because they pose security threat.
“Those buildings actually pose a security risk. You know that of recent, there have been a lot of security threats in the capital city and if you look at those buildings they were being occupied by illegal tenants and nobody knows who they are and the structures are even unsafe. The concrete work is highly substandard and could crumble and kill people so it is safer for us to pull it down,” Okoya said.
Commenting on the removed illegal market, the coordinator said there was no provision for illegal markets in the FCT master plan.
According to him, the master plan had locations for markets but did not provide for any illegal markets as such, no one could set up an illegal market anywhere in the FCT and expect the administration to turn a blind eye.