The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) said the demolition of the 30-year-old UTC complex was done to give way to a better restructuring of the complex in line with global business standards.

Hassan Ogbole, deputy director, Monitoring and Inspection, Department of Development Control, FCTA, said the structures were overdue for restructuring to fit into a shopping complex model required to grow Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

He said the structures were defective and needed upgrades to meet global business standards.

“The place is in a state of disrepair; the place is no longer habitable for occupation and business activities,” he said.

Mr Ogbole said provisions had been made for the traders and other occupants of the complex to enable easy reconstruction.

He added that several notices had been given to the occupants to enable them enough time to move out and allow the reconstruction to start.

“We have given enough notices for them to remove their goods, to enable us to start the work,” he said.

Also speaking, Peter Olumiji, secretary, command and control of the FCTA Department of Security, said demolishing the complex was needed to curtail security challenges in the FCT.

He added that aside from the need to restructure the complex, there was the need to curtail criminal activities prevalent in the area, such as thuggery and faking of official documents.

A trader in the complex, Samuel Onuchukwu, said the traders and other occupants were worried about the development because the temporary site was not secured for business activities.

“We woke up early this Saturday morning to learn that the whole UTC area had been barricaded and demolition ongoing, with people’s goods still trapped inside. This is really unfair,” he said.

Another trader, Rosemary Clement, said though notice had been given to them, they did not act on it because the matter was still in court.

Also, Uche Paul, a trader, said he had prepared himself to vacate the complex before now, but the developers had yet to assign him a new place at the temporary site.

(NAN)