…injure military officer
By Muhammad Tanimu, Abuja
Suspected hoodlums on Thursday attacked the Federal Capital Territory Administration Taskforce, in Gwarimpa, injuring a military officer.
Chairman, FCT Ministerial Committee on City Sanitation, Ikharo Attah, said the attackers were obviously angry that the team returned to enforce Urban and regional environmental laws in some illegal markets that were removed few weeks ago.
Our reporter, observed that the mob on sighting the taskforce team, descended heavily on them with stones, chanting ” kill and go, kill and go “, while throwing stones.
They were however, overpowered when armed security operatives advanced towards them, shooting tear gas canisters.
Attah noted that returning to the place was to completely check the criminal activities of the displaced hoodlums who have increased their nefarious operations since the shanties where they hid in were removed.
He confirmed that even an expatriate lady who lives around the area had raised the alarm over the increasing robberies by the hoodlums, who often scale the perimeter fence into her compound.
” We are already used to attack from hoodlums, it is part of the price we pay cleaning the city. We discovered that the people had returned to the illegal markets, we had earlier on removed, converting the place to umbrella market.
” The Abuja Environmental Protection Board enforcement team who went in first to remove the illegal shanties that were rebuilt were attacked, alongside the military personnel.
” One officer was badly injured, but we are not stopping the operation, we will continue with our routine clean up around the city, Mpape, and Iddo . No place that need clean up is close ended, but open ended.
Also speaking, the Secretary, FCT Command and Control, Peter Olumuji, explained that the removal of illegal shanties at 37th Road in the same Gwarimpa, was a response to the distressed calls from legal occupants who complained of incessant security breaches in the area.
He added that intelligence report showed that illegal drug dealers and criminal suspects have infiltrated the slum.
” This place is behind 37th Road in Gwarimpa, we got information that illegal drug dealers and other criminal elements who operate around Gwarimpa, return to hibernate here in these shanties”, Olumuji noted.