According to the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), the demolition of the 30-year-old UTC complex was done to allow for a better restructuring of the complex.
According to Mr Hassan Ogbole, Deputy Director, Monitoring and Inspection, Department of Development Control, FCTA, the structures needed to be restructured to fit into a shopping complex model required to grow Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
He stated that the structures were deficient and that they needed to be upgraded to meet global business standards.
Ogbole stated that provisions had been made for the traders and other occupants of the complex to allow for the complex’s easy reconstruction.
He added the several notices had been given to the occupants to enable them enough time to move out and allow the reconstruction to start.
The place is in a state of disrepair, the place is no longer habitable for occupation and business activities.
There is need to give way for a new development.
The company handling the development has informed the department of Development Control and we are here to enforce compliance.
We have given enough notices for them to remove their goods, to enable us start the work, he said.
Mr Peter Olumiji, Secretary, Command and Control, FCTA Department of Security, also spoke, stating that demolishing the complex was necessary to address security issues in the FCT.
He added that, in addition to the need to restructure the complex, there was a need to reduce criminal activity in the area, such as thuggery and forgery of official documents.
Mr Samuel Onuchukwu, a trader in the complex, said the traders and other occupants were concerned about the development because the temporary site provided for them was not secure for business activities.
He claimed that many of the traders had yet to remove their goods and property from the complex because the demolition caught them off guard.
We woke up early this Saturday morning to learn that the whole UTC area had been barricaded and demolition on-going, with people’s personal goods still trapped inside.
This is really unfair, he said.
Another trader, Mrs Rosemary Clement, said though noticed had been given to them but they did not act on it because the matter was still in court.
I sell award plaques here for over 12 years and this is what I have been using to train my kids in school, with this development, I don’t even know where to start from, she said.
Also, Mr Uche Paul, a trader said he had prepared himself to vacate the complex before now, but the developers were yet to assign a new place for him at the temporary site.
We have been waiting for the relocation for months and some of us had paid for it.
So while waiting for them to assign our slot to us, we continued our businesses here pending when they finish all agreement with our executive members, he added.