The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) yesterday, launched a large-scale demolition and enforcement exercise at the UTC Shopping Complex area in Abuja’s Area 10, pulling down illegal structures and evicting traders, mechanics, and squatters in what it described as a necessary step to restore order, enhance security, and reclaim public space in the city centre.
The operation, spearheaded by the senior special assistant to the FCT minister on monitoring, inspection and enforcement, Comrade Ikharo Attah, was backed by a combined team of FCTA enforcement officials, security operatives, and environmental workers. Bulldozers moved into the UTC axis in the early hours, flattening shanties, roadside stalls, and illegal attachments that had over time crowded walkways and blocked access routes.
Attah said the exercise followed several months of official notices and direct engagements with traders and shop owners to vacate the encroached areas and comply with Abuja’s urban development regulations.
“This place has been a source of concern for a long time,” Attah told reporters at the site. “We issued repeated warnings, engaged stakeholders, and gave them ample time to relocate, but the defiance persisted. The FCT Minister has directed that the city must be kept clean, secure, and compliant with the Abuja Master Plan. Today’s exercise is in direct enforcement of that order.”
He noted that the UTC corridor had become a hotspot for traffic congestion, environmental hazards, and petty crime due to unregulated trading and the proliferation of makeshift shelters. According to him, the administration is determined to dismantle such pockets of disorder across the territory to improve urban safety and livability.
The demolition was met with mixed reactions. While some residents welcomed the move as a long-overdue clean-up of the congested commercial hub, traders and mechanics displaced by the action expressed outrage, alleging that the government had failed to provide alternative business locations.
One mechanic, who gave his name as Musa, lamented the loss of his workshop tools and parts in the demolition. “We are not against order, but they should consider our survival. This is our only means of livelihood. We asked for more time, but they refused,” he said.
Another trader, Mrs. Patience Ude, whose goods were destroyed, described the exercise as “economic strangulation,” urging the government to create designated markets and workshops before driving people away.
Despite the backlash, the FCTA insists it will sustain the clearance drive, targeting other parts of the city where illegal structures and street trading have taken root. Attah warned that there will be no exemptions for any individual or group, stressing that the master plan will be strictly enforced.
“This administration will continue to act decisively,” he said. “We are not against business or livelihood, but they must operate within approved spaces and under the laws guiding the Federal Capital Territory.”
