The UTC Shopping Complex located at Area 10 in the Garki area of Abuja, has been demolished by the Federal Capital Territory Administration on Saturday.
According to the shopowners, the FCTA arrived in the morning and prevented them from taking their valuables, before they began demolishing the building. They claimed not to have received any notice of demolition, but they claimed to have received a notice ordering them to move to a new complex, provided for them, but according to them, the new complex is not suitable for them as it could not contain over 480 shops.
However, one of the shop owners, admitted that they did receive a notice of demolition, but since the issue is still being contested at court, they had hopes that the demolition might not happen, they never expected that such a thing will happen anytime soon.
“Yes, we were given notice earlier this year that they were coming. But the whole matter is still in court, according to what our leaders in the complex told us. So we just had hopes that it was a fifty-fifty situation; we didn’t think it would happen this way. So perhaps the case had been settled in court without us knowing”.
