… Removes Worship Centers, Vehicles

In a renewed effort to clear the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of environmental nuisances, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Ministerial Taskteam on City Sanitation raided and removed unauthorised attachments and Bureau De Change (BDC) Operators in Abuja’s Wuse Zone 4 on Monday.

The Taskteam concentrated on cleaning shanties made largely of roofing sheets, sacks, and wood that were positioned within a reserved green area near the Sheraton Hotel, where BDC operators and small dealers were observed conducting business in the crowded area.

Two mosques within the green vegetation were removed, as was an illegal cluster of furniture-making companies beneath the foot of a bridge near Ya’Adua Centre.

While adding that , numerous vehicles were towed from the area, which appears to be heavily packed with unapproved structures utilized as criminal hideouts.

Comrade Ikharo Attah, Chairman of the FCT Ministerial Committee on City Sanitation, rationalized the practice by noting that it was carried out in accordance with a stringent Ministerial instruction.

Attah stated that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, paid a visit there around a month ago and noticed the high degree of violation in the city’s central business district, where currency traders act recklessly.

According to him; “Today, we can out on an operation to clear those persons who are roadside traders, owners of batchers, shanties and furniture market under the Wuse Zone 4 bridge.

“We saw much bleeding points in the city, and the FCT Minister insisted that we must clear all, and he even insisted that BDC operators who are operating on the roadside should not be, as they should go back to their shops, and do their businesses.

“We saw batchers in the valley, which removed; we saw and removed illegal attachments in the area, and while we are removing street traders and hawkers, we can’t allow those who deal in currencies to remain on the road. So, the Minister had given directive to the AEPB and other teams to pin down and ensure that.

“One thing that is so key is that we discovered a stolen manhole cover, which the AEPB team will handover to relevant agency of the FCTA”, he stated.

Also , the Assistant Director, Monitoring and Enforcement, Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB),Kaka Bello, revealed that a lot of environmental nuisance are being constituted by traders and those hawking currencies there. We have also food vendors, people indulged in sales of illicit drugs and number of shanties.

Bello noted the place was an eyesore, which is not acceptable and it contributes badly to the quality of the city’s environment.

He emphasized that the AEPB will ensure that the exercise is continuous, as its presence will be there on a daily basis.

According to him, most of the offices in Zone 4 are owned by BDCs but unfortunately some of them resolved to be trading outside, which is illegal.

“We want to appeal to all these people, who have turned the place into their aboard illegally to please vacate, as places like that are not meant for such illegalities. They should take advantage of the markets within the city, where they can go and sell their wares.

“For the Bureau De Change Operators, they should please ensure that they carry out their businesses within their office premises , not by the road corridors. We also appeal to the general public especially those who patronise BDCs to please patronise them in their offices.

“And anybody caught outside operating will be arrested and prosecuted accordingly, and the Mobile Courts are already on standby, waiting for people, who are indulged in these activities to be arrested and brought before it.”

Meanwhile, the Secretary FCT Command and Control Centre, Mr. Peter Olumuji noted that the place hitherto to the raid constituted a serious security threats to lives and property in the Territory, due to multifaceted nefarious activities there.

Responding on behalf of the BDC Operators, the Secretary, Elders’ Forum of the BDC Operators in Wuse Zone 4, Yahaya Kida, described the exercise as a welcome development, as it will help sanitise the area.

Kida disclosed that the FCT Minister, through the Commissioner of Police, Director of Security Department and AEPB Director had on the 15 fifteenth of September, 2021, invited us , and informed them about the exercise.
We informed all our members about the clean up exercise, which they cooperated with the government, so as to clean Zone 4.

His words; “We are going to organise those BDC operators dislodged during the exercise, by profiling and giving them means of identification. We are not going to be on the road like before.

“We are tired of this drugs peddlers operating in the area, and we are warning them not to return back here”, he stressed.

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has began revising the territory’s database of farmers and agriculture-related institutions.

This is part of a strategy to address specific gaps in the delivery of effective and reliable agricultural support services, particularly in the areas of input and extension.

Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, announced this at the International Conference Centre Abuja during the opening ceremony of the Agribusiness Innovation Conference and Expo.

She also stated that the administration has initiated the renovation of old facilities while striving to construct new ones as part of its efforts to modernize agricultural infrastructure.

Despite farmers’ crucial role in the fight against hunger, Aliyu acknowledged that the agricultural sector faces a number of challenges, including a lack of information on best agricultural practices, insufficient financial support, access to inputs, storage and processing facilities, pest infestation, market access, and improved technology.

She claimed that the administration had taken steps to address these concerns and restore agriculture’s significance.

According to her, she has implemented various federal government agricultural projects such as the Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme (AADS), the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), and the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP), among others.

According to her; “On the implementation of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) funded AADS, all the six Area Councils of the FCT, as well as participating farmers and off-takers have been fully mobilised and are ready for the take-off of the programme at the start of the 2021 dry season farming”.  

Earlier, the Ag. Secretary FCT Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat, Malam Ishaq Abubakar Sadeeq, described the theme ‘#End Hunger: “Building A National Resilience For Sustainable Food Security” as apt considering the fact that the country more than ever before was in dire need of the participation of key stakeholders in enhancing agribusiness for increased food security and employment.  

He noted that the FCT was not just about infrastructural development, as the Administration has been giving due attention to the agricultural sector in order to meet the needs of the growing population of FCT with food and nutrition.    

Sadeeq said the administration has been implementing programmes aimed at making agriculture attractive to the populace and investors particularly in the areas of agricultural value chains development.  

The 2018 Agribusiness Innovation Conference and Expo, according to FCT Minister of State Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, would help complement the administration’s efforts to enable farmers to take agribusiness to a global level.

This statement was delivered by the Minister during a dinner hosted by the FCT Administration to promote the hosting of the 3rd Agribusiness Innovation Conference and Expo in 2022.

The conference, according to Aliyu, has evolved into a forum for farmers and investors to network with Agro-allied enterprises and learn about new technology and procedures that will help them adopt global best practices in all aspects of agricultural production and processing.

She went on to say that the administration has prioritized creating opportunities in the agriculture sector in order to engage the teeming population in meaningful undertakings.

She added that, stakeholder synergies are essential to enable efficient and sufficient food production while also providing social equality and threat mitigation.

According to him : “It is a responsibility that must be addressed collectively and not just by government alone. With this in place, we will continue to grow our economies together, eradicate poverty, reduce unemployment and youth restiveness, thereby entrenching food security”.  

On his part, the FCTA Permanent Secretary, Mr. Olusade Adesola, said the agricultural sector has continued to be among the contributors to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.  

He added that the sector had provided the needed foreign exchange earnings, the foundation upon which the initial infrastructural development of Nigeria was built.  

Adesola maintained that the convergence of Agribusiness entrepreneurs and exhibitors in Abuja would further open the doors of opportunities to farmers to acquire new skills and technologies that would help boost production and processing activities.  

While allying the fears of business concerns about security situation in the FCT, the Permanent Secretary assured investors that the administration was working closely with the relevant security agencies and community leaders, to promptly neutralize any emerging security threat.  

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) claims that the ongoing clean-up and demolition of shanties and unlawful structures in the territory is carried out with a human face and in accordance with the rules of engagement.

Comrade Ikharo Attah, Chairman of the FCTA Ministerial Taskforce on City Sanitation made known on Sunday in Abuja .

The FCT administration, he added, authorized the demolition to clean the region of the growing number of shanties and illegal structures along traffic lanes.

According to Attah, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Malam Muhammad Bello, has always emphasized that, notwithstanding the illegalities, a high degree of engagement with essential stakeholders is held at all levels prior to demolition.

According to him : “That for me, is the best of human face that you can get around.

“All what we have been doing as regards to the clean-up, removal of shanties and illegal structures in the FCT as an administration, we are doing it with total human face.

“We carried out all the clean up or demolition as you call it with strong empathy because we understand that we are also part of humanity.

“When people commit illegality and when time of clean up comes the FCT Minister will tell you yes these things are illegal they have to go but we are human please engage and discuss with the people.

“The few ones you know you can make arrangements do, the ones you know nothing can be done tell them expressly, talk to the local Chiefs and natives to make them understand that it is actually necessary,” he said.

Attah added that, the taskforce gave more than four months clean up notice to the Mpape community, dialogued and engaged them for sometimes before the commencement of the exercise.

He also said that the taskforce engaged some other areas like the city centre, saying “in fact we have engaged people a lots some of the discussion are still going on which I cannot disclose here.

He further stated that ; “The Minister insist that in all what we do, engagements with critical stakeholders must be carried out so that we can get their buy in.

“So, I believe what we exhibited is absolutely with strong and total human face. It is just that when we do all of this the engagement is not being reported in the media.

“The dialogues and meetings were not in the media, so people will not know what we are doing. But I will tell you clearly that all the clean-up we have carried out were done with total human face.

He said that the delay in the clean-up was due to the series of negotiations and meetings with critical stakeholders.

Attah added that , the minister believes that we are part of humanity and we must as he directed engage with critical stakeholders on all of this and ensure that we do it with absolute human face.

“When we go out to clear illegal structures, if you will observed we allowed people that we gave several months of notice but disobey, one hour to evacuate their properties.