FCTA issues quit notice to traders in Gwarinpa illegal market, gives 5 days ultimatum

Favour Ishember, Abuja

Authorities of the Federal Capital Territory Administration FCTA have issued a quit notice to traders in ‘Ya Kasuwa’ market along the N16 road corridor in Gwarinpa, asking them to quit by Wednesday to commence clearance operations on Thursday.

Director, FCTA Department of Development Control, Mukhtar Galadima, who gave the order during a meeting with stakeholders along with representatives of the traders union, said the contract for the full-scope development of the arterial road had since been awarded by the FCT Administration and that the the contractors had been engaging the traders since last September but the traders kept asking for more time, a development he said could no longer be tolerated.

According to him, the timeframe for the contract had since been eaten into by the traders’ refusal to quit, saying if the contract is not executed as scheduled, the cost of materials would keep rising and could lead to demands for contract variation, which is against the policy of the present Administration.

In his words:”This meeting is basically to inform the traders occupying the N16 road corridor because the last time they were served notices, they said they were not fully briefed or informed and were not sure if the notice was authentic.

“We want to tell them that yes the FCT Administration gave out this contract from Ring Road 2 to Ring Road 3. Ring Road 2 starts from Katampe Extension to Life Camp to Jabi Mbora up to Galadima roundabout and in between, there is Ring Road 3.

“The contract has been awarded and we are calling on all those people doing business on the corridor to leave. All structures existing in that corridor are to be removed. We are calling on you traders and others there to please cooperate with us. Start removing your valuables before we come there.

“We are coming to clear the place. We are giving you up till Wednesday to clear your things. By Thursday, we are going to start”, he added.

According to him, the contractors had began discussions with the traders since September 2023 and that “granting further extensions would eat into the contract time which could lead to contract variations and more costs”.

On request by the local council revenue collector for a new market site, the director said since markets are under the councils, it is incumbent in them to look within and allocate a new market to the affected traders.

Secretary of the traders union, who gave his name as Mohammed, said they had operated the market for over 20 years, saying he would convey government’s message to the traders.

“We have been there over 20 years ago and now it has come to our notice that the road is to be constructed. We are grateful to have been invited and ours is to now go and sensitize our people so that the traders can look elsewhere. We are asking for more time as we are already concluding plans to relocate”, he stated.

Meanwhile, the department has pulled down a structure within an estate in the Karmo district, for obstructing a flood plain.

An official of the department, Garba Jubril said the developer had been so recalcitrant to the extent of even enlisting policemen to frustrate the department from carrying out enforcement duties on the estate.

He said; “We are on Plot 840 Cadastral Zone CO1 Karmo District. It is an estate development, but the challenge we have here is an issue of a recalcitrant developer. This structure we are removing had been marked right from the outset at the foundation level.

“While efforts to bring to the attention of the developer that this plot is outside his boundary, it is on the green area and on the flood plain. You can see the building, just a few metres to the stream here. So which means it is not safe for habitation. So, all efforts to bring this to his attention proved abortive. Sometimes, when we come here, we meet a stiffer opposition from the force that are behind the man. So, we had so many such challenges here.

“There are about 12 structures that are affected. Some are on the green verge, some are on the floodplain, and some are on the road corridor.

“The developer came, and ironically, he came with his own force. In fact, if you can look up there, you can see some policemen in red caps against our own policemen that we came with. In fact, they almost outnumbered our policemen. So, when they came initially, they wanted to confront us and force us to stop, but we proved to them that we cannot stop the demolition as it is a directive from above. So eventually, he had to come down and plead after seeing that force can’t work.

“Actually, the advice is that they should obey the law. Abuja is a planned city. Whoever wants to build knows what to do. Once you secure a duly allocated land, you should apply for the building approval. And one thing is to get approval, another thing is at the point of implementation, or they invite our building inspector to come and assess what they are doing because even the quality of structures here is questionable”, he said.