Uthman Abubakar
8 April 2009
Several features seem to be emerging in the Gwarimpa Housing Estate in the Federal Capital Territory, which strikingly contrasts with its status as the largest mass housing location in the West African sub-region, or so it is said.
Its population, which includes, it is said, top-ranking serving military and police officers, the National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, members of the National Assembly and top officials of the Presidency, among numerous others, seems growing in leaps and bounds by the day. The population is, normally, multi-cultural and multi-religious.
However, insecurity, orchestrated by criminal activities and depravities, threatening peaceful and lawful residence, the residents have begun to allege, is growing as fast as the population and the socio-economic activities are, or, perhaps, even faster, according to the claim of residents in some of the more densely populated sections of the estate.
Further, a section of the population allege that the Federal Housing Authority, which owns and manages the estate, 'incautiously' sells plots of land allocated in the original master plan of the FCT for places of their worship to other individuals and organisations for purposes other than worship.
One of the wards of the estate where the residents complain that such features are more noticeable is 32 Crescent in Gwarimpa II, where the Corner shops in the designated neighbourhood centre has many additional 'illegal' structures allegedly operating as all-night-long beer parlours and brothels and, subsequently, very secure hideouts for alleged miscreants and robbers who, allegedly, deprive the residents of their peaceful rest by waylaying them and snatching their properties, and even breaking into their houses.
Some of the residents there even allege that they have started receiving SMS messages from the 'robbers,' warning them to prepare for their visit any day by keeping an amount of money large enough to save them and their families from their wrath in the event that no such amount of money is kept for them.
The residents complain that since the demolitions of slums by the administration of the immediate past FCT Minister, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, consequent upon which many criminals, hitherto lurking in the demolished slums, relocated to the estate, they have known no peace.
They allege that it is an every-Sunday occurrence that at least a car is stolen in the estate, a situation they attribute to what they describe as the daily springing up of strange and unusual structures habouring strange people converging in the estate from the demolished slums, people whose sources of livelihood cannot be ascertained.
Residents of the 32 Crescent described themselves as worst hit by this development, complaining that their neighbourhood centre ideally built as a location where they can source their immediate needs has been turned by a group of people they describe as bad elements into full-rented accommodation where all manners of people hire to carry out their 'nefarious' activities like drugs sales and consumption, night clubs and brothels.
One of the letters of complaint the 32 Crescent And Adjoining Roads Residents Association wrote to the immediate past FCT Minister, Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar through his Special Adviser (Security) and titled: RE: COMPLAINT ON ILLEGALLY OPERATED BEER PARLOURS, NIGHT CLUBS, EATERY AND ENJOYMENT GARDENS ON 32 CRESCENT AND ADJOINING ROADS IN DESIGNATED NEIGHBOURHOOD CORNER SHOPS, dated 25th July, 2008 and copied to the Commissioner of Police, FCT Command and The Managing Director/Chief Executive, Federal Housing Authority, Asokoro Abuja, stated in part: "Generally speaking, the entire Corner shop in 32 Crescent has now been turned by operators to black spots. The activities of the Corner shop owners are no longer for the purpose for which it was built/established, hence giving the residence a serious problem and night mare."
The letter was signed by Mr. L A Sanusi, the association's Protem Chairman.
On the assumption of office of Senator Muhammadu Adamu Aliero as the present FCT Minister, the association wrote a letter to him titled: COMPLAINT OF ILLEGALLY OPERATED BEER PARLOURS AND NIGHT CLUBS ON 32 CRESCENT AND ITS ADJOINING ROADS AND IN THE DESIGNATED CORNER SHOPS AS WELL AS THE OPERATION OF 'ENJOYMENT GARDENS' BTWEEN 32 AND 34 CRESCENTS, FEDERAL HOUSING ESTATE, GWARIMPA. The letter was dated 20th January, 2009 and signed by Mr. L A Sanusi, Alhaji Jubril A Abdullahi, Ambassador Olufemi George and Ambassador Jones Ajayi, all officials of the association.
In the letter, the association complained: "Unfortunately and regrettably, some people have turned these Shops into Beer Parlours and even Night Clubs, operating from night till dawn. The result is not only that our sleep and peace is (are) disturbed, but also that all sorts of characters are attracted to our neighbourhood. In fact, this place is being used as launching pad for the nefarious activities of men of the underworld to plan their operations.
"Furthermore, many of these shops have been converted to full residential quarters, either for those operating these beer parlours or even out-rightly rented out to prospective tenants as permanent living accommodation. As a result of non provision of conveniences in these beer parlours, the clients ease themselves anywhere, sometimes in front of the houses of some residents, thereby creating serious environmental hazard. Furthermore, we believe that these places serve as hideouts for bandits and other miscreants who now constitute threats and are indeed terrorizing us."
Nothing, so the association says, has yet been done by the law enforcements, the FHA and the FCT administration to rescue the residents of the wards out of their plight.
A top official of the residents association, who is also an official of the Presidency, spoke on strict condition of anonymity.
"So far the development with regard to our situation is derogatory. If the authorities that be had taken precautions, things wouldn't have degenerated to this point," he maintained, explaining, "I am saying this because it has come to the point that armed bandits have gone to the extent of writing (text message) to the residents. I am among those they have written to. Seven of us were written to. They wrote to us that we should be prepared for them. They are coming, and at any time they come, we should keep something very reasonable to defend our families. That is the extent to which they have gone."
He presented the SMS allegedly sent to him and the six other as:
"We're bk 2 Gwarimpa and & 32 Crescent. We'll visit you one of the days. Pls prepare for us by keeping something gd and reasonable dat can safe you and yr fmly. Noth'g can stop us."
The Presidency official said: "This is so because before now, we have the census of the entire residents and who lives where. Now, because of the situation in the corner shop there are many strangers who carry out immoral and criminal activities in the shops now turned to full accommodation, beer parlours and brothels. This message I am telling you about, I received my own on Friday (April 3), and all the others too confirmed that they also received theirs on the same day because immediately they received it they called me. We compared notes and discovered that it was exactly what was sent to me that was sent to them. We have contacted the police and they are working on it with patrols and so on."
He said, however, "This measure, like I told the DPO, is just like treating the symptom not the real cause of the problem. Patrols are being carried out, but the criminals remain with us. They are watching every movement and they know when to retreat and when to strike. Our fear is that we don't know when they will come, as they warned us in the message. They are seeing everything we do now even with the police patrols. If they observe that the patrols concentrate in the night, they will come in the day time."
The Presidency official recounted an instance: "It happened in an afternoon last year. It happened to my neighbor here. His wife's car was snatched by 1 pm. They car was brought outside where they were waiting. The criminals snatched the car with the younger brother inside. A fortnight ago on a Sunday a neighbour's car was stolen. He returned from the Church, went inside his house and asked someone to go and bring out something from the booth. That person never saw the car."
According to him, the corner shops initially belonged to the FHA officials, who later sold them or transferred their ownership to other people, which could have been the reason for the FHA's inability to stop the construction of additional illegal structures around them.
"You see, our problem with the FHA doesn't even stop there. We the Muslims are battling with something now," the retired military officer said, explaining, "the land adjacent 32 Crescent shopping centre originally designated as a place of worship for Muslims is already sold by the same FHA which initially allocated it for place of worship to the Jamaatu Nasril Islam (JNI). We have the master plan that shows this. Even the FHA officials are not contesting it. Later, they began to say 'who did what, and then sold it somebody' and so on, in fact, that is not even the problem. The problem now is that the information now shows that they are now going to use that place for a hotel."
He recalled: "Right before 2003, we Muslim Ummah of Gwarimpa have been fighting the battle. We have written three letters since 2003, asking the FHA to give this land originally allocated to us to start developing it. We indicated in the letters that we learnt this land has been sold. The relevant papers of the ownership of the land have still not been handed over to us. That is why all we had to do was to fence it. In fact, we put there the notice that 'This land is not for sale. Trespassers will be prosecuted.' A letter was written to the minister. Up till now, nothing has been done. We have about four or five such designated places in Gwarimpa here. FHA sold all. This is the only one officially remaining for the Muslim Ummah. Why is it that the FHA doesn't want to give us our land? The about N80 million we learnt the land was sold for was not handed over to us. So, who authorized the sale, and on behalf of who?"
He said the association appeals to the FCT minister to wade into the matter and stop the FHA from finally taking over the land from the JNI.
"No! It is not true that Gwarimpa is insecure," the Public Relations Officer of the FCT Police Command, Mr. Jimoh Moshood (DSP), hit back furiously at the residents in a mobile cell interview, stating emphatically, "Gwarimpa is generally very secure. There is no serious concern about insecurity in any section of the estate at all. Gwarimpa is very calm. But is not an island on its own. It is a society like every other, and in every society you cannot rule out such minor crimes and insecurity threats. It is normal."
He continued: "About this SMS you said residents of some of the wards received from criminals, warning them to keep some amount of money for them, we have not received any report about that. We are not magicians to know whether criminals sent such nasty message to Yahaya or Biodun or James, or to any other resident. If they had reported it immediately to the police we would definitely do something about it. If they have not reported it, they should stop complaining. If they have reported it, they should allow the police to do their work. They should wait and see if anybody will harass them."
Mr. Jimoh admitted: "In this kind of society where the houses are detached, the residents should help the police by employing their own private guards to ensure their security. Such guards complement the work of the police. The problem of most residents is that they will not employ their own private guards and they will start complaining about insecurity. The police cannot be everywhere every time."
He stressed: "Any complaint about insecurity in any part of Gwarimpa is not genuine at all. The estate is generally very secure. Even on weekends, we patrol the estate day and night. We are doing our duty well in Gwarimpa."
Mr. Tunde Ipinmisho, the Public Relations Officer of the Federal Housing Authority responded to the two complaints of the residents.
"Gwarimpa Estate, like every other estate built by the FHA, is a living organism. A living organism does not remain static. It changes constantly," he posited, admitting, "We have received complaints by the group you referred to. The plot of land was originally allocated in the master plan for a place of worship, as they have said, but for more than ten years as the estate grows nobody came forward with a development plan for that place. Nobody came to say this is what we want to do with that place.
"If you go to Gwarimpa now you will see the pressure for land there. Therefore, the plot of land in question was re-allocated for another purpose. The master plan is not something that is static. It is open to review every time. In Gwarimpa there are many Mosques. On First Avenue alone you can count more than three Mosques. So it is not as if somebody doesn't want Mosque there. In fact, there are residential buildings converted to Mosques, against Development Control Regulations. In this particular instance, the plot of land was laying fallow for so long, ten years as I have said, and the Authority reserves the right to re-allocate any land in Gwarimpa Estate. It is within our purview," he argued.
"About the illegal structures you said, I don't know of such structures. I know about corner shops. The issue of corner shops is a general problem in Gwarimpa. Constantly, our development control officers are going round these corner shops to ensure that, one, people don't covert them to residential houses and two, to ensure that they are used for the purposes for which they are meant. That is in the books," Mr. Tunde said.
"But the reality is that many of the people who own those corner shops are not the ones using them. They have sublet them to other people. The matter came up about two years ago. The plan of the Authority now is to look eventually for a location; the kind soldiers call Mammy Market, which will be out of anybody's way. Subsequently, our development control officials will intensify activities to ensure that all those neighbourhood centers are used for the clear purpose for which they were allocated," the FHA image maker argued, stating, "we want to maintain the original plan. Anywhere we see illegal structures, whether in the corner shops or anywhere, the FHA development control department will pull them down."
Mr. Tunde debunked the resident's complaint about insecurity, saying, "I live in Gwarimpa Estate, and I can tell you that I have never lost sleep because of insecurity threat there since I went there. I think people should be more tolerant of others. We have agreed to live together in that estate. There are things you do which I don't like and there are things I do which you don't like. We meet at a common ground. Compromise is the word."
Who is right on the state of security in Gwarimpa Federal Housing Estate? The residents or the authorities?
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