Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), on Monday, stormed Gishiri community, within the Maitama District, demolishing all illegal shelters allegedly been used by suspected criminals.
The Administration vowed to go harder on illegal squatters as a measure to control influx of people into the city.
Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement to FCT Minister, Ikharo Attah, who led the team, said while the administration would not stop Nigerians from living in Abuja, illegal structures won’t be allowed to deface the city.
He noted that Gishiri community had a close proximity to Maitama District, hence the need to strictly regulate human activities there.
According to him, the administration has received several complaints of security breaches emanating from the community.
“We are carrying out this exercise because we got a lot of complaints over the weekend. And as you can see, shanties have started springing up from the community up to the Maitama junction.
“That is why we had to quickly come and clear them because they serve as safe haven to criminals. Criminals hang around in these shanties to attack the neighbourhood,’’ he said.
Also speaking, the Assistant Director of Enforcement with the Abuja Environmental Protection Board, Kaka Bello, said the shanties had been demolished several times but deviant people continue to put them up.
Bello stated that the enforcement won’t be stopped until people begin to respect the rules of the city.