FCTA warns indigenes against renting cashew plantation to scavengers

Favour Ishember, Abuja

Authorities of the the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, has warned indigenous people in Abuja to stop renting out their economic trees  plantations to scavangers  and pantakers.

Leading a cleanup exercise in Mabushi and Jahi  area in Abuja, The Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement to the Minister of FCT, Ikharo Attah who stated this  lamented that, it is unacceptable for owners of undeveloped land or building under construction to rent out their properties for illegal land use different  from what was in the plan.

He added that henceforth, the  administration  will report the owner of the property to the police and if the criminality is too much, ‘” we  will report to the Minister to take the necessary action’.

According to him,”We are removing scavengers  shanties around Mabushi area close to Orji Uzor Kalu’s house. FCT Commissioner of Police, Sunday Babaji, urged the FCT Minister, Muhammad Bello, for the need to actually clear this area in order to make this area more secured.

“The Minister of FCT  directed us to clear all babanbola in this area, just by Orji Uzor Kalu’s house we are clearing so much shanties and scavengers

“It is part of our  agenda to clear the city and today we found someone’s national identity card and  international passport, that was probably stolen . This is an high brow area and it won’t be right for scavengers  to stay here . We will be handing them over to appropriate agencies to locate the owners of the identity card and international passport.

“We also saw custom’s  element , we saw police cap, official coat of arms which can be for one government agency”.

He decried the fact that cashew plantation are now criminals hideout in Abuja, “The cashew trees are no longer economic trees again, they are insecurity trees because whenever we go out we see criminals hiding under the trees.  They have become safe havens for criminals”.

On renting out cashew plantation to illegal occupants, he said, “We have already told the indiginous people  that any cashew  plantation that is rented out to scavengers,  when we get there we won’t spare the cashews trees because we must touch every illegal structures in the plantation and remove them”.

He therefore warned, “If anybody rent out his property to illegal occupants, we condemn it totally and if we get the owner, we will report the owner to the police and if the criminality is too much we will report to the Minister to take the necessary action. Or if it gatemen that do it they should stop renting the place out for shanties”.

Assistant Director of Enforcement in Abuja Environmental Protection Board, AEPB, Kaka Bello, while speaking on behalf of Director of AEPB Osilamah Braimoh, said there is no going back on the decision that all pantakers, babanbolas, must move to dump sites to do their business.

He added that it is unacceptable that residential areas are being use and accumulation of wastes is hazardous to the health of people in that area.

“The implications to the environment it is degrading the environment and hazardous to the health of the people in the area  The babanbolas that is being removed today has been removed severally but they keep coming back.

“And Director of AEPB Osilamah Braimoh in times back has asked them to vacate the area and ensure they use the dump site, for all this their activities but unfortunately they have refused to vacate, we have no choice but to remove them, these  are residential areas but they have occupied these places and some of the challenges is accumulation of waste and others.

“Anyone who want to do the business  of waste recycling they must do it at the dump sites in Abuja. .

“We have had series of meetings with them and told them that if they must operate, they must use the dump site and we have over 90 hectres of land which they can use, which they can use for recycling”.