The famed illicit market and squatters in Kubwa’s Arab Road were cleared out by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on Friday.
During peak hours, the market, which was located on the main road corridor going to Kubwa, creates significant traffic congestion.
Also, the squatters have blocked all of the area’s important drainages by converting them into a garbage dump.
The task force team also cleaned the drainage systems in the region in addition to demolishing the illegal buildings, shanties, and stores.
The Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Monitoring, Inspection, and Enforcement, Comrade Ikharo Attah, stated that the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad, in his response to reporters’ questions in Kubwa during the cleanup operation, gave a matching order that the entire stretch leading to Kubwa train station from popular Arab junction must be cleared and all the illegal squatters, shanties, parking, shops, etc , must be removed in order to allow for free flow of traffic in the area.
According to him, “The Minister of FCT Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, gave the Taskforce team headed by the Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Engr. Shehu Hadi Ahmad, to clean the entire stretch leading to Kubwa train station from popular Arab junction down to the train station because the train services here is already well patronised. People who use this road are not happy about the state of the road which paint Abuja in a bad light. It took all of the entire taskforce team to do the job
“Apart from distilling of the drainages the Minister also brought in the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPD) Development control, the Security Department, because of the security implications and because of indiscriminate parking, the Minister brought in Directorate of Road Traffic Service to come and do the job.
“We are all here to correct every contraventions like illegal structures around me here. The Minister is making the institution to work so that anyone that is coming after him, the work will be easy for him.”
On drainages, he reiterated the commitment of the Minister in ensuring that all the drainages in Abuja were desilted before the commencement of the raining season in April/May.
On whether the residents were aware of the removal, he said, “The people are more than aware that the administration is coming to remove all the illegal structures, some have already packed and removed their shops, some are still removing when we came. Some of the department have come to warn them before now.”
The Head of Monitoring and Enforcement, Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), Mr Kaka Bello, lamented the traffic congestion in the area due to illegal squatters and markets, among others.
He said, “Before now there were lots of illegal markets, which is affecting free flow of traffic , a journey of 5 minutes takes over 1hour. It was also affecting the environment negatively, you saw the drainages were blocked and these illegal traders are dumping refuse in the drainages and these are disasters that are waiting to happen. We have been here before and we will continue to do this.”
He also appealed to the traders to go to the designated market for them and urged residents to only buy from traders that were at the designated markets.
