Malam Muhammad Bello, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has ordered the reopening of the Dei Dei building material market for commercial activities, dismissing the recent crisis that engulfed the location as a traffic accident hijacked by hoodlums rather than an ethnic occurrence.
Following a crisis that erupted on May 18, 2022, the market had been under lock and key for nine days.
However, the market will reopen for business on Friday, May 27th, 2022.
Bello made the announcement on Thursday, May 26th, after meeting with key Dei-Dei community stakeholders at the FCDA Conference Hall in Garki, Abuja.
According to the Minister, all meeting participants agreed that the Dei-Dei market riot was a traffic accident hijacked by hoodlums, not an ethnic occurrence.
The meeting also agreed to reorganize the market and put it under the supervision of authorities.
“This morning, we held a very important meeting with the stakeholders of the Dei Dei community, the leadership and the head of that community, His Royal Highness, Dr Idris Musa, MFR, the Sarkin Jiwa and all the leaders of the five major markets within that community, as well as religious leaders.
“Basically, we reaffirmed the need for peace in that community, as well as FCT in general, and discussed at length, all issues relating to last week’s incident that led to the destruction of properties and unfortunately, loss of lives.
“The conclusion of our meeting is that all the communities agreed that what happened was not a tribal or religious crisis. What happened was just an unfortunate accident that was overtaken by hoodlums in the community who created havoc. The general consensus now is that every community will make sure that miscreants and hoodlums are flushed out”.
Bello also stated that the meeting agreed that many of the structures in the market were built in contravention of the Abuja Masterplan, and that corrective measures will be taken to correct these development anomalies.
The Minister stated that commercial motorcyclists, also known as Okada, will have their operations fully regulated and controlled.
“Generally, the entire stakeholders agreed that peace is very important. Without peace, there will not be economic development and without peace, there will be no society. It was clearly reiterated that the FCT Administration will ensure that all rules and regulations are adhered to” the Minister added.
The meeting was attended by the FCTA’s Permanent Secretary, Mr Olusade Adesola, the Minister’s Chief of Staff, Malam Bashir Mai-Bornu, the ES FCDA, Engr Shehu Hadi Ahmed, the FCT Commissioner of Police, Sunday Babaji, the Secretary of the Area Council Services Secretariat, Alh Ibrahim Dantsoho, and other community leaders and senior FCTA officials.
