The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) destroyed the Durumi Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp on Wednesday as part of a plan to make the nation’s capital a safer place.
While observing the exercise, Alhaji Shehu Ahmad, the Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), stated that the alleged IDPs’ camp was actually a dual carriageway road corridor with a rail mode.
Because these are slums that are intended to provide dual transit, Ahmad said, “If the majority of them are not IDPs, then this is a straightforward issue and clearly not allocated.”
But shanties and hoodlums have occupied them. The type of illicit activity taking place here is easy to imagine.
“Based on what we can see, they are not engaged in serious activity or significant jobs.”
They are a nuisance to the entire city, not just the neighborhood. This campaign to purge the city of disorderly behavior will continue.
Ahmad stated that people who were detained during the operation in possession of hard drugs and other substances would be given to the police for additional investigation.
The road corridor would be cleaned up and made accessible to the public, according to the FCDA boss. advising property owners to build them or face revocation.
The area’s high criminality had already been denounced by Mr. Ikharo Attah, Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Monitoring, Inspection, and Enforcement.
This operation has been a topic of discussion in the security committee meetings since March, he said.
Extreme criminal activity in places like Garki, Durumi, and Gudu has been linked to this region, in part because of some violent criminals who falsely identify as IDPs.
According to Adamu Gwary, Director of Security Services for the FCT, the alleged IDP camp used to be a sanctuary for criminals.
He said that by shutting down the criminals’ hideout, the FCT Administration had been able to get rid of the criminals’ base, which was the heart of the operation.
The head of the Department of Development Control, Murktar Galadima, asked the property owners to improve their land so that these illegal squatters wouldn’t come back.
Suleiman Yakubu, a Kogi resident who was among those impacted, claimed to have lived there for more than four years.
“It’s true that there are a lot of crooks in this camp engaging in all kinds of illegal activity,” he continued. (NAN)
