May 26, (THEWILL) – The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Bello, has ordered the reopening of the Dei-Dei market from Friday, May 27, 2022.
Bello had ordered an indefinite closure of the market last week, after a crisis erupted in the market claiming four lives and properties worth hundreds of millions of naira were damaged.
The minister ordered the reopening of the market after a meeting with stakeholders of Dei-Dei community under the leadership of the head of the community, Dr Idris Musa, the Sarkin Jiwa, and the leaders of the five major markets and religious leaders within the community.
Bello, while speaking with journalists after the meeting said, they had to reaffirm the need for peace in the community and the entire FCT, saying that they also discussed at length all issues relating to the last week’s incident, which led to the destruction of property and unfortunately loss of lives.
According to the minister, they all agreed that what happened in the community was not a tribal or religious crisis, but was an unfortunate accident that was overtaken by hoodlums within the community who created havoc.
“Now, the consensus is that every community will police itself and make sure that hoodlums and miscreants are flushed out. Secondly, also, the markets within the community will be more organised now under the very strict supervision of the relevant authorities in the FCTA.
“The market leadership will also interrogate their operations, reorganise how they operate and also make sure that there is internal cohesion security, and control within their market.
“The meeting also clearly agreed that many of the development there are against the Abuja Master plan and it was agreed that the administration will ensure that everything there is planned properly according to the Abuja master plan.
“It was also agreed that there is the need to reemphasise the operations of the commercial motorcyclists and ensure that they are brought under full regulation and control.
“It was also reiterated that the FCT administration will ensure that all rules and regulations are adhered to. Going forward, a committee has been set up to be chaired by a very senior land, urban and regional planning expert, who will have members from the local community, the business community of that area within the security agencies as well as the FCTA.
“Within four weeks, they will provide a comprehensive report and a roadmap, so that we can redevelop the whole of that area for the benefit of the citizens. Finally, there was a consensus on the need to reopen the market, and accordingly, the FCTA has approved that the market should be reopened with effect from tomorrow Friday, May 27, 2022″, he said.
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