Federal Capital Territory Administration warns against leasing Plantations to Scavengers
Hudu Yakubu, Abuja.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has warned the indigenous people of Abuja to stop renting out their economic trees plantations to scavengers.
The Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement to the Minister of the FCT, Ikharo Attah, stated this when he led a clean-up exercise in Mabushi and Jahi areas of Abuja.
He lamented that it is unacceptable for owners of undeveloped land or building under construction to rent out their properties for illegal land use different from what was in the plan.
He added that henceforth, the administration will report the owner of such property to the police; and if the criminality is too much, it will be reported to the Minister to take the necessary action.
“We are removing scavengers, shanties, around Mabushi area close to Senator Orji Uzor Kalu’s house.
“The FCT Commissioner of Police, Sunday Babaji, urged the FCT Minister, Malam Mohammed Musa Bello, on the need to actually clear this area in order to make this area more secured.
“The Minister of FCT directed us to clear all scavengers in this area, just by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu’s house. We are clearing so much shanties and scavengers
“It is part of our agenda to clear the city and today we found someone’s national identity card and international passport, that was probably stolen.
“This is a high brow area and it won’t be right for scavengers to stay here. We will be handing them over to appropriate agencies to locate the owners of the identity card and international passport.
“We also saw Customs’ element. We saw police cap, official coat of arms which can be for one government agency,” he said.
He decried the fact that cashew plantations are now criminals’ hideout in Abuja:
“The cashew trees are no longer economic trees; they are insecurity trees because whenever we go out, we see criminals hiding under the trees. They have become safe havens for criminals.
“We have already told the indigenous people that any cashew plantation that is rented out to scavengers, … when we get there we won’t spare the cashews trees because we must touch every illegal structures in the plantation and remove them.
“… If anybody rents out his property to illegal occupants, we condemn it totally; and if we get the owner, we will report the owner to the police and if the criminality is too much, we will report to the Minister to take the necessary action.
“Or if it’s gatemen that do it, they should stop renting the place out for shanties,” Ikharo warned.
Assistant Director of Enforcement in Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), Kaka Bello, while speaking on behalf of Director of AEPB, Mr Osilamah Braimoh, said there is no going back on the decision that all scavengers must move to dump sites to do their business.
He added that it is unacceptable that residential areas are being used and accumulation of wastes is hazardous to the health of people in that area.
“On the implications to the environment, it is degrading the environment and hazardous to the health of the people in the area. The scavengers that are being removed today have been removed severally but they keep coming back.
“And Director of AEPB, Osilamah Braimoh, in times back has asked them to vacate the area and ensure they use the dump sites for all these their activities, but unfortunately they have refused to vacate.
“We have no choice but to remove them. These are residential areas, but they have occupied these places and some of the challenges is accumulation of waste and others.
“Anyone who wants to do the business of waste recycling must do it at the dump sites in Abuja.
“We have had series of meetings with them and told them that if they must operate, they must use the dump sites and we have over 90 hectres of land which they can use, which they can use for recycling,” he said.
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