***As FCTA Vows To Sustain Exercise
The Federal Capital Territory’s (FCT) escalating security issues may be resolved by completely demolishing the Gishiri community and other slums within the Capital City.
This is as victims of the most recent demolition called on the authorities to rid the community of criminal hideouts, saying, criminals who attack residents in Maitama, Central Area, Jahi among many others hibernate there.
Narrating her experience in the course of living in the community for over five years, Mrs Comfort Gabriel not real name said residents have suffered loss of lives and property from the hands of the criminals.
Saying, “Even though, I built my house in this community and unfortunately it has been demolished that does not mean I should not say the truth about the security challenges we are facing here.
“Just yesterday, the day one of the demolition, a pregnant woman whose house was demolished and was trying to salvage her television was stabbed by these hoodlums and still went away with the television.
“The slum neighborhood has served as a shelter for criminals that operate in and around the area, most of the robberies are committed by criminals who live in the Gishiri and Mpape communities”, she said.
Meanwhile, in an interview with the Senior Special Assistant to FCT Minister on Monitoring Inspection and Evaluation, Comrade Ikharo Attah hinted that the residents of the community gave ample opportunity to scavengers “Babanbola”who feasted on their property.
According to him:” To keep Abuja clean is a job that must be done constantly. Sadly for us, the Director, Development Control and some of his Deputies said we should come back that people will not move their property until they see the bulldozers.
” This gave room for the scavengers to have a field day today. Stealing zinc, stealing things we chase them. We arrested about 10 or 15 of them at my last count. Despite the arrest, we felt nothing would have happened because if they removed their property, we wouldn’t have seen the scavengers coming in to steal where there are no carcasses, the vulture disappear. And it’s really very painful. We will come back again because we couldn’t finish the work today. We are coming back again and again and I think Gishiri is a very long journey for some us.
“They could see a massive road corridor coming and they bought a land on the road corridor, that’s illegal. A plot on the road corridor is illegal. That’s the truth you built on flood plains . They know all these things. Development control have been marking here for the past 16 years. The more the mark, the more that you build. When we came for the last marking. Some residents said nothing will happen. Anybody will come. The machines are constant. They will come and they’ll keep coming”.
Reacting to one of the residents claims, Attah said, “the administration is fully aware of the criminal activities going on here and that’s one of the reasons why we are sent to come and do the job we’re doing here. We are very aware. We have so many security reports from the police and others pointing to Gishiri as a very terrible criminal den the Police Commissioner for the FCT have been very, very up and doing or given the minister daily routine brief. We have become the closest on town within the hybrid area of the FCT that’s Maitama here not quite one minute away. The criminals here can easily launch attacks on Maitama , Asokoro, and the City Center.”
