Over the weekend, Mpape community leaders protested to the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) about miscreants and suspected criminals reclaiming tourism sites that they had previously removed.
The Crush Rock Spring Water is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the nation’s capital, a spectacular untapped tourism property with the potential to generate enormous annual earnings.
When they met with Comrade Ikharo Attah, Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection, and Enforcement to FCT Minister, the community leaders conveyed their concerns.
They expressed their delight in having a peaceful environment free of traffic jams and marauding street urchins following the recent clean up.
They added that their joy of having a serene environment, void of traffic gridlock and marauding streets urchins, after the last massive clean up exercise embarked on in Mpape by the FCT Ministerial Committee on City Sanitation had been cut off.
However, Mpape’s Paramount Ruler, Chief Musa Ahmadu noted with dismay that all the places where the Taskforce dislodged illegal occupants, had been fully rebuilt against their wish.
He express regret that the miscreants had even deepened their criminal activities at the tourism sites, and were scaring would-be tourists from visiting the Area.
He, however, appealed to FCTA to immediately send its Taskforce to come back to the community and remove the illegal market extension and all the lodges of the criminals within the tourism sites.
Responding , Attah hinted that it was unfortunate that few people had continued to force government to waste scarce resources on demolishing illegal structures.
According to Attah, “If government is forced to expend public funds to come back to Mpape, the clean up exercise will be very brutal.
“The miscreants who are illegally retaking the tourism sites will be arrested and prosecuted, he affirmed that the traders who are rebuilding the illegal extension may lose their goods.
” FCT Administration had expected that all residents would have heeded the warnings and stop promoting illegalities, as a way of helping the government save resources for better development”.
He, however, assured that the demolition bulldozers would soon return to Mpape Community to sustain the clean up exercise.
Attah also warned the miscreants and all the residents who have disregard for extant laws, and are rebuilding the demolished illegal structures to desist from it.