Agony, tears as bulldozers clean-up Nyanya

 

Agony, tears as bulldozers clean-up Nyanya

The dust whirled into the sky as the rampaging bulldozers went into action pulling down illegal structures on its way.
The snorting sound of the bulky machines were not enough to overwhelm the wailing and cries of owners of the structures who watched helplessly as the buildings were reduced  to rubbles under the weight of the bulldozers rolled out by the Federal Capital Territory [FCT] administration.
The invasion of the bulldozers on the troubled Nyanya town is coming on the heels of the two bomb attacks that occurred in the area on April 14 and May 1 respectively. the attacks were blamed on  the Boko Haram terrorist sect which claimed responsibility for the first blast.
The arrival of the bulldozers which were on a mission  to clean-up the area was heralded by wailing, tears, panic and stampede as occupants of the structures struggled almost in vain to save  their wares and property from being destroyed by the machines.
Supported by heavily armed security personnel and officials of the agencies and departments in the FCT administration, the machines went into action amidst tears and protestation.
The exercise was jointly  executed  by the Abuja Metropolitan Management Company, Department of Development Control, Abuja Environmental Protection Board, and the Parks and Recreation Department of FCTA. They work with the police, military and other law enforcement agencies.
FCT Minister, Bala Mohammed had  ordered a clean up of the entire Nyanya corridor after the explosions that rocked the area.Although it is a routine exercise done with the best interests of the residents in mind, current clearing has elicited high display of emotions by occupants of the area. But  the coordinators insist the cleaning will help to restore a better control of the area.
Occupants of the shanties protested the manner the demolition was carried out arguing that sufficient notice was not given to them to move out.
Although many of the victims protested , one voice stood out among them. It was the voice of John Yako, a retired military officer whose business premises was demolished in the process. His story was touching.
Hear him “My name is John David Yako I have registered with PHC, which gave me an approval to operate motor park. This premises is a business multi-purpose land and I approached the owner of the place and rented the place. I have approached AMAC through its Transport Chairman there in Area 10 and they gave me an approval to operate this park. I have been paying my levy every year to them. So my surprise is that if there is something of this nature [Demolition], I’m supposed to be informed by writing to vacate this place because of the present security situation in the country. I’m not talking about my things that I have lost, Are we going to depend on government handout ,no private investments? How can the economy grow?
“ I’m a retired Military officer, I have resigned to take up transportation as a business. Now the whole business is gone. Where do I start from?  Don’t you think it is going to push me into doing other things because I have family and I have to feed them?  I’m a trained military man, I retired two years ago and took to this business and now they have demolished it without notice.
“Nobody served me any notice, nobody contacted me to vacate this place only for me to receive a phone call that my place is being demolished.
“I have about 50 vehicles and some of them have been towed. All these  50 vehicles are putting on the table of large families daily food.  I have 25 staff working under me and if I include the drivers, then we will have about 100 people who are feeding from these vehicles.
“ When I went to claim those vehicles, the Director of Transport in the FCDA was telling me to go and talk to the FCT Minister. Is it possible? Why didn’t  the Minister come by himself to  demolish my place?  I think the Director should have taken  my complaint to the Minister instead of telling me to go and complain to the Minister. The Minister is not a ghost, I can go and meet him, but if I meet him, I will get provoked.
“So that statement by the Director is not fair to me because it is not the minister that came here to demolish my business. I think the proper thing is for him to take my complaint to the Minister.
“This is not human. We are complaining of unemployment in this country and I employed 25 people in this place, now I have lost my business and the 25 people have lost their jobs, where do they want them to go? They are going to become armed robbers [God forbid] they are going to become touts . They are equally good materials for Boko Haram. So I think the FCT Minister should take necessary action and come and respond to our problems.
“Alternatively, I expect him to give us another sight to operate and we would have gladly relocated but nothing of such happened. My prayer is that the Minister should respond swiftly to this matter. I  registered my company with the Corporate Affairs Commission [CAC] and I pay my tax every year so why should they come and do this type of thing to me?

Official response 
Reuben Okoya, the Coordinator of AMMC, said that the exercise was partly informed by the recent bomb explosion in the area.
He said “We have been engaged in exercises like this in the past; the difference is that we are being more diligent now because of the recent security challenges in this axis.
“After the recent bomb explosions, the minister came here and ordered that the entire Nyanya corridor should be cleaned up.
“You will agree with me that an open area can be more easily policed than an area which is clustered with slums and shanties.’’
Mr. Okoya said that the exercise would be sustained and gave and assurance that the legal occupants in the area would not be affected.
“These activities will last for three days and will take us from AYA roundabout to Mararaba, and by the time we finish, the entire corridor would have been cleaned up.
“We are not displacing any legal occupant, but anybody who illegally occupies an area should not talk about compensation,’’ he said.
Also speaking, Yahaya Yusuf, the Director of the Department of Development Control, said  the clean-up was a major responsibility of the agencies involved in the exercise.
He said that the department, particularly frowned at residents who converted their premises to inappropriate uses , adding that contravention fees would be introduced, to stop the practice.
He said “We have a mandate to clean up the city and the FCT Minister recently gave us marching orders to invigorate the clean-up exercise in areas where there are shanties.
“The FCT administration is serious about stopping the idea of residents converting their premises to uses that are not approved.
“This has informed the introduction of contravention fees for such structures to remain, while new contraventions would be immediately reverted.
“This particularly affects the hospitality industry where some residential buildings are converted to hotels and we have commenced sensitisation in that sector.
“We intend to be carrying out this exercise frequently so much so that we stop any illegality at a low level before they can reach a high level. The Abuja Investment Company is already developing a sight for car mart. The implication is that whatever infrastructure has reached an appreciable level, we will direct all those selling cars to that place. You must have noticed that we have already removed some of the car dealers away from the town itself, but I will not be surprised if I see some of them coming back anyway, but the bulk of them have been pushed along Kubwa Road pending when the Auto mobile village which the FCT administration is building is completed.
“A sight has been procured in Wasa District for those people selling Automobile materials along the road and for Mechanics.  It is not to my knowledge that clearing have been stopped at the site. Besides, in view of the recent development there are plans to relocate the bus terminal to a new place. A spot has already being indentified for that purpose and we are going to use the opportunity of this exercise to clean up the area so that development can take place as soon as possible.
“We are clearing shanties in the city ,as you know some of these areas are indigenous areas and the policy of the FCDA is that until indigenous villagers are re-settled, you cannot disturb them where they are living. In that line , much is not possible, we are leaving them intact especially in the areas that are residential. For those attachments which are for the purposes of shopping and which encroached into the right of way, those are the ones that we are removing.
In her remarks, Aishat Adebayo, the Acting Director of AEPB, solicited the cooperation of residents in the exercise, stating that it was in the overall interest of residents.
“Clean-ups are routine steps to ensure that the sanitation of the city is maintained, and with current the security challenges in Abuja, there is the need for us to be more diligent.
“This will assist the security agencies to easily discharge their responsibilities.
“The exercise will cover the entire territory of Abuja and we have already covered areas in Airport Road and Kubwa.
“Any area that is recovered, the Department of Parks and Recreation will maintain it so that residents would not have the opportunity to encroach again.
“We also appeal to residents to cooperate with us because this exercise is for their own good.
“The incidents that occurred in Nyanya are still fresh in our memories and we all need to be our brother’s keepers,’’ she said.
Mixed reactions
Residents of  the FCT  have been expressing divergent views over the planned demolition of structures along the Nyanya road corridor. The territory’s minister, Senator Bala Mohammed had during an assessment tour of the bomb scene said illegal structures that are responsible for congestion around the area would be demolished to pave way for a more conducive environment .
While some residents of the territory criticised  the minister and said the approach adopted in checking rising insecurity in the territory was tantamount  to leaving the main issue to pursue  shadows, others however,  hailed the move.
One of the residents, Martha Terdoo,  said the minister by his pronouncement, was yet to understand what the problem was.
She said “I find it laughable that the minister said houses close to the motor park and road corridor would be demolished. Were the houses the reason  the place was bombed and in any case, are there  houses close to the bus park?”
The Village head of Nyanya, Alhaji Angola Kaduna Shuaibu however urges the administration to expedite the demolition process but advised that those to be affected should be adequately compensated.
He noted that while there are people who may be living in that part of the Nyanya village illegally, there are those who are legitimate occupants and residents in the area and should be captured in the compensation programme.
Speaking in a similar vein, a lawyer, Abdul Mahmud welcomed the planned demolition, saying, “I welcome the planned demolition of all illegal structures around  the highway. Only an orderly  society can combat the menace of terrorism.  Allowing illegal structures to flourish 200 meters to the highway, against the Highway Act, does not speak well of us as a nation.”
He further urged the government to extend the demolition exercise to Goshen, Nasarawa state and further to that, allocate alternative markets to traders far outside the highway corridors.
New motor park
As a way of solving the insecurity and perennial traffic gridlock on the Nyanya border area of the Keffi-Nyanya-Abuja express road, FCT Administration has announced that it will build a new motor park at Nyanya within a reasonable distance from the expressway while all buildings, shops and business locations along the affected corridor would be demolished FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed said that President Goodluck Jonathan has given directive for the provision of standard motor parks with inbuilt security measures throughout FCT.
The Minister further disclosed that an integrity test would be carried out on the Nyanya interchange (flyover) to ascertain its current structural strength in the aftermath of the two successive terrorist bomb attacks near the foot of the bridge.
He disclosed that work would commence at the new motor park within the next one week. He added that a team comprising top officials of Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), the FCT departments of Urban and Regional Planning, Survey and Mapping, Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, the Transportation Secretariat, the Abuja Municipal Area Council, security officials and other relevant professionals has been put in place to facilitate a speedy construction and opening of the new park together with the removal of all encumbrances.
While admitting that the swelling population of FCT particularly in areas like Nyanya has remained a big challenge, the Minister said the FCT Administration was doing its best in synergy with the various security agencies to deepen security intelligence in the Nation’s capital. He appealed to the residents to continue to be vigilant and to always volunteer useful security information to the Police and other security agencies.