The Joint Task Force constituted by the permanent secretary (FCT), Dr. Biodun Nathaniel Olorunfemi, has disclosed that it demolished a section of Dei-Dei, near the cattle market, for security reasons.
Speaking through the deputy director monitoring and enforcement, Development Control Department under the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), Ibrahim Tukur, he said that security reports from the area were not too good.
“You were on site and you are a witness of the calibre of people and the kind of illegal activities going on there. The situation report in the area is that by 7pm, you can’t walk in that area without being attacked. It has been confirmed that people hawk Indian hemp and drugs in that area the way you hawk kola, which is very dangerous,” he said.
He also highlighted that another major reason why the department visited the area was to ease the traffic congestion along the expressway.
“You know there is a cattle market situated in that area and people park along the road instead of using the designated parking areas, so the exercise basically is to encourage these truck drivers to use the parks. That way, we can remove the bottlenecks in the area and ensure a smooth flow of traffic,” he said.
The village head of Dei-Dei, Alh. Mamadu Sani, however said that instead of concentrating on removing shanties, the task force removed over twenty houses belonging to indigenes.
“We were taken unawares. They did not inform us they were coming to demolish anything around this area, which is unfair. We are farmers and indigenes of this land, where do they want us to go now?” he questioned.
Tukur however refuted the accusation, saying that the department works with a human face. “We have been giving these people notice for over two years now, but they didn’t take us seriously.”
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