By Daniel Tyokua
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on Tuesday dislodged scavengers’ den at Kubwa train station, an outskirt of Abuja.
The Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection on Enforcement to the minister of FCT, Ikharo Attah who led the exercise, said the clean up was aimed at tackling suspected criminal activities that could result to banditry and kidnapping.
Attah explained the shanties pulled down were built by scavengers popular called babanbola within Kubwa village.
He explained that the team visited the area to handle a security challenge that was in place, which is by Kubwa train station, where people are being attacked as from 6pm.
“We came here to address security challenge, 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 babanbola to that wreck havoc on persons in the territory”
Attah said the area links Kubwa and Byazhin where cases of criminal activities are being reported by those in the area.
“There is so much cases of report here from this rail corridor, and rail station that many persons 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 dispossess of their belongings.
“We left the other side because bulldozer cannot get to that stretch so we had to set the shanties and bachers on fire.
“From what we gathered, some drugs that are being sold around here, were found and were being handled by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) personnel.
“I can’t really quantify the number of shanties but my desire is to sack the shanties and free this area of all criminal elements .
“The residents are happy 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, “We are going to come back and we will keep coming and keep coming until they give up on this location” Attah said.
