Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) yesterday demolished the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp at Durumi in Abuja to make way for road and rid the camp of criminals.
The Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Shehu Hadi Ahmad, said Durumi IDP camp, sheltering refugees displaced by insurgency in the North-east and banditry in parts of the country, was a dual carriage road corridor with a rail modal.
Several other shanties were also affected by the clean up exercise.
“If most of them are not IDPs, then this is a straightforward issue and definitely not allocated because these are slums we are talking about. Then where are they coming from and how did they get this location. Beside this is a planned road corridor and a transit way at that, Inner Southern Transit Way, that is supposed to convey dual transportation, dedicated bus-line and rail median but these have been taken over by hoodlums, shanties, you can imagine the kind of criminalities going on here.
“From the outlook we have here, they are not into any meaningful employment or serious activities, They constitute nuisance not only to the neighborhood but to the entire city. We will continue to sustain this operation to rid the city of unruly behaviour,” Ahmad said.
He said some of the camp dwellers caught in possession of hard drugs and dangerous objects during the operation would be handed over to
the Police for further
investigation.
He warned property owners that road corridor adjourning the Games Village would be cleared and put in use for the general public. He warned property owners to develop or risk revocation of their plots.
Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement, Comrade Ikharo Attah, who led the team, lamented the extreme criminality perpetrated in the area.
He said: “This is an operation that has long been a discussion point in the security committee meeting since March till today, the extreme criminality in areas like Garki, Durumi and Gudu were all traced to this area here partly by some dangerous criminals all claimed to be IDPs but are not”.
He said several arrests were made while decomposed corpses were seen at the camp where people were robbed, stabbed and killed in the past.
“When we dislodged Goragora hill, they all moved in here and due to the sympathy of few IDPs living here, this place now became comfortable for them.”
