The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has demolished the Durumi Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp and other shanties as part of the strategy to address security challenges in the territory.
The executive secretary of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Alhaji Shehu Ahmad, while inspecting the exercise said the supposed IDP camp was a dual carriage road corridor with a rail modal.
Ahmad said if most of the people living in the camp were not IDPs, then it is a straightforward issue and not allocated and that the camp had become a slum.
“The camp had been taken over by hoodlums, shanties. You can imagine the kind of criminality 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 behaviours,” he said.
The executive secretary further said those arrested with hard drugs and other substances during the operation would be handed over to the police for investigation.
He also said the road corridor would be cleared and put to public use, adding that property owners must develop them or risk revocation.
Earlier, Mr. Ikharo Attah, the senior special assistant to the FCT minister on monitoring, inspection and enforcement, decried the extreme criminality perpetrated in the area.
“This is an operation that has long been a discussion point in the security committee meeting from March to date. The extreme criminality in areas like Garki, Durumi, and Gudu were all traced to this area partly by some dangerous criminals all claiming to be IDPs but they are not,” he said.
Also, the FCT Director of Security Services, Adamu Gwary, said the supposed IDPs camp used to serve as hideouts for criminals.
“By sacking the criminal den, the FCT administration has succeeded in removing the criminals base which is the main essence of the operation,” he said.
On his part, director of the department of Development Control, Murktar Galadima, urged owners of the properties to develop them so as to discourage the return of these illegal squatters.
