Insecurity: FCTA begins massive  clampdown on scavengers

 

 

Favour Ishember, Abuja

 

 

 

In a bid tob address the criminal tendencies of scarvengers in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, on Tuesday began removal  shanties   built by  scarvengers in Kubwa.

 

 

Leading the exercise, the Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement to FCT Minister, Ikharo Attah, said  the team came to bring calmness to the Kubuwa train station, as people were being attacked as from 6pm on a daily basis.

 

 

 

 

CSP Solomon Adebayo.

 

 

Accompanied by CSP Solomon Adebayo,   Attah  said “We came here to actually address security problems, we came here with the full support and the directive of the FCT Minister Malam Muhammad Bello and Commissioner of Police Sunday Babaje to actually tackle the issue of  miscreants and scarvengers otherwise known as babanbola   who usually reck havoc on persons in FCT, this is the connecting area between Kubwa and Biazhin and there is so much cases of report here from this rail corridor and rail station that many person cannot even pass after 6pm, you dare not pass this area after 6pm,many persons have been robbed and stabbed with knife and other dangerous weapons  and dispossessed them of their belongings here.

 

 

In the curse of the operation, we discovered that Machines cannot get to that stretch, so we had to set the shanties and  bachers on fire.

 

From what we gathered , drugs were been sold around here, we found  them and handled them to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) personnel.

 

“I can’t really quantify the number of shanties but my desires is to sack the shanties and free this area of all criminal elements .

 

“The residents were jubilating even though they were scared to show their faces to journalists. They were so happy because most of those boys scale the fence of the estate around here and rob them without being challenged”.

 

On sustainability,  The Senior Special Assistant said, “We are going to come back and we will keep coming and keep coming until they give up on this location.

 

“We came here last year it was densely populated by barchers  and what we see today is about 40% of what we removed last year . If they come again we will be waiting for them. What is important is sustainability and when government keeps doing the job and the Minister and Commissioner of Police has given us the mandate to go after these babanbolas in Abuja. Most of the things we recovered are daggers, attack knives, light weapons etc.

 

 

A resident in the are who pleaded anonyty  for fear of being attacked commended the FCTA for a job well done.

 

He said, “This is a very strong spot and no man’s land because they take anything that can make them high. They take hard drugs and sell hard drugs.

 

“Once they take drugs they don’t respect or regard  anyone. This is very dangerous, we do our business during the day we close before 6pm because of the insecurity around here . We would have appreciated  the government to allow people who are doing genuine business to stay here.

 

“The way they live here nobody would be happy or be on their side”.

 

 

Mark Ulogwu, who is also a resident in the area and was once attacked by miscreants in that area was very happy the shanties were destroyed.

 

He said, “I have been living here since 1989, I am very happy about the destruction of this shanties. In this town this is the kind of place criminals hide. The FCT need to be coming back to keep checking the place because am sure once they move out in the next two or three months, they will come back to this place.

 

“Am sure if they are doing their businesses quietly I don’t think the government would have sacked them, I believe they came based on things that have happened around here, I personally was attacked on this spot and the okada man abandoned me.  I was robbed, they collected all my valuables and I was beaten seriously.

 

“In order to ensure they don’t come back, the administration can put fence like barbwire  or something to  stop them from coming back”. He advice.