On Tuesday, August 29, officials from the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) undertook the demolition of an illegal market widely known as Kasuan-Dere, which was suspected to be a hideout for both hoodlums and drug dealers.
Following the demolition, Mukhtar Galadima, the Director of the FCT Department of Development Control, addressed the matter. He stated that the market, situated on Hassan Musa Katsina Street in close proximity to Kpaduma II in Asokoro Extension, had evolved into a source of concern for both residents and pedestrians.
Galadima emphasized that despite the Administration’s continuous efforts to cleanse the area, it had transformed into a hub for criminal activities. He further pointed out that the presence of miscreants in this vicinity had negatively impacted the overall visual appeal of the surrounding environment, thereby warranting decisive action against its continuation.
He said: “We had demolished the place about three times but the nuisances continue, this time around we are doing it for the last time and it must stay, we need to sanitize the place and enhance the aesthetic quality of the environment.
“It is also part of the current Administration’s policy of sanitizing the city, this is one area we are starting the exercise. The area has so much to do with security threat, information available to us revealed that there are some miscreants, drug dealers and many other men of the underworld.
“The operation will help us get rid of the hoodlums and drug dealers that have taken over the place”.
Contributing, the secretary FCTA command and control, Peter Olumuji, said the area has been a source of concern to the residents because of the vices that have been taking place.
Olumuji said: “After the cleaning, we will put measures in place to ensure that we have a pin down point here, it will help people to pass here at any time without fear of attack, the exercise is going to be sustained. The combined team of the task force will be on a standby to ensure that nothing affects the people.”
The village head of Kpaduma, Bitrus Yakubu commended the FCT Administration for coming to rescue them from hoodlums.
He said: “The place has been here for over twenty years but today it has gone down for our good. We are very happy as a community because with the clearing of the area the residents we have peace of mind.”
