Traders lament losses as FCTA demolishes Gwarimpa Tipper Garage

Traders operating at the Tipper Garage, 3rd Avenue, Gwarimpa, Abuja have lamented the demolition of their properties amounting to millions of naira.

The Chairman of Tipper Garage, Usman Abdullahi, lamented that he lost two shops to  the demolition carried out Wednesday by the FCT Ministerial Task force on City Sanitation.

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“They came here around 2pm and demolished more than 200 shops, which is almost half of the market. Myself, I lost my only two shops in this demolition and they weren’t close to the street as they demanded us to do. Though I was able to evacuate  some of my belongings as good samaritans helped me in evacuating them, I lost more than N500, 000 .000,” he added.

Malam Amiru Lawwali, who’s the Chief Imam of Tipper Garage Mosque, also said all his shops were demolished during the exercise.

“I have three shops and they were all demolished. Though, when we sighted them, we started emptying  all my belongings inside these shops. So I can say the loss is relatively minimal but I can estimate it at not fewer than N250,000 as I have recently refurbished the shops with a lot of money,” he lamented.

Reacting, the Chairman, FCT Ministerial Task force on City Sanitation, Ikharo Attah, said the demolition was to prevent Gwarimpa from becoming a slum.

He noted that the illegal markets and tipper garage had gradually been turned into a haven for criminals and other hoodlums who constitute a nuisance and security threat to residents of the city.

He also said the traffic gridlock experienced in some parts of the estate was caused by activities at the illegal tipper garage.

“We have given them notices and warnings since January and for the past one week, we have been coming here to warn them to move out, but they refused to move,” he said.

Also speaking, AEPB enforcement team leader, Kaka Bello, said measures have been put in place to secure the reclaimed area so as to avoid a return of the nuisances.