Senator Bala Mohammed
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed, has offered reasons why the relocation of the Nyanya Labour Camp has become imperative.
Prominent among the reasons offered by the minister are the need to to ensure environmental and security standards.
The minister, who spoke during an interactive session with journlists in Abuja, also pointed up the need to make way for the provision of decent housing for the residents of the notorious slum.
Nyanya, which was built about thirty years ago has turned into one of FCT’s most notorious slums.
It is located less than 10 kilometres from the Abuja city centre, and was originally built for early construction workers involved in the building of the new federal capital city.
The minister said the present condition of Nyanya was unbefitting of a modern capital city like Abuja.
According to him, the builders of the camp planned it as a temporary camp, hence the kind of structures that were erected there.
Mohammed stated that the current security challenges in the country, especially insurgency, have made the relocation of the Nyanya Labour Camp even more compelling. According to him, the FCT administration has taken several measures recently such as demolition of some buildings to enhance security and environmental sanity in Nyanya but added the situation can be salvaged without relocation.
The minister explained further that Gidan Daya, the chosen relocation site for Nyanya, was a new district located within the same Abuja Municipal Area Council on the Karshi axis, reaffirming his commitment to the provision of affordable and decent housing for Nigerian workers.
