In continuation of its renewed clean-up operations in the Federal Capital City (FCC), the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), through its joint city enforcement team, raided and dislodged notorious spots for environmental and other nuisances ranging from refuse littering, illegal markets, auto mechanic workshops and motor parks, as well as illicit drug-related activities, around popular AYA roundabout and environs, in Asokoro District, over the weekend.
The team, which included officials from the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) and the Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS), also known as the Vehicles Inspection Office (VIO), as well as a joint team of security personnel who provided security for the activity, also abated environmental nuisances around Court of Appeal junction through Fed Secretariat complex, Eagle Square and Nicon Junction axis of Shehu Shagari Way.
The exercise, Secretary, FCTA Command and Control, Olumuji Peter, said it is in continuation of the FCT Administration’s commitment in ensuring that the city is kept safe for every resident.
Olumuji, however, warned that henceforth, the FCTA is letting all those who have criminal tendencies in the city know that they should change or better relocate to wherever they are coming from, because the city would not be conducive for them, as the enforcement is continuous.
He hinted that through credible intelligence from security agencies, the team bursted a criminal hideout around Asokoro, where illicit drugs were recovered and criminal elements that attack people traversing the area, especially in the nighttime were dislodged.
According to him: “We have been able to dislodged where they normally reside, and that is a good development to those traversing around the place especially in the nighttime.
“We had gotten reports that people are being attacked whenever they are traversing this environment. But with the action that we have taken now, such criminal activities here have been reduced to the bearest minimum, which we hope to sustain.”
On whether any arrest was made during the raid, he said: “For now, were not able to make any arrest, because when we entered there, most of them had escaped.
Similarly, the Deputy Director, Monitoring and Enforcement, (AEPB) TPL Kaka Bello noted that the whole effort is to see that the city is clean and safe for the inhabitants.
He bemoaned that environmental and sundry nuisances are increasing daily, which explains why working together with other relevant agencies, a strategy was conceived.
According to him: “AYA is one of the notorious places where we encounter a lot of challenges whenever we come for such cleaning exercise, given the rate of nuisance here, which have been abated. And the illicit drug related offences that were apprehended by the NDLEA officers.
“They are all interwoven, and we are working together with other agencies to make sure that we abate such nuisances. And it is a daily thing, which we would continue to do, as the city must be clean on a daily basis.”
On her part, Deputy Director, Operations, DRTS, Deborah Osho, who described the exercise as a success, disclosed that about eleven vehicles were impounded and towed from illegal parks and mechanic workshops, with seven tricycles confiscated for alleged route violation.
“We are poised to clean the city, in order to make the city safe and give its befitting name as the FCT”, she stressed.
