By Ken Afor
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has ordered the eviction of illegal settlers at the Abuja Science and Technology Village in Chika-Aleita along the international airport road or face possible demolition of their structures.
The Minister on Monday, during an inspection tour of the village, directed the Department of Development Control to ensure the eviction of the illegal settlers.
According to the minister, there is no basis for the settlers to still inhabit the area despite being compensated since 2015.
Wike said the eviction of the settlers would enable the owners of the land, the Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Technology, to commence the construction of their office.
He added that while the land is being developed, it is also an opportunity for investors to come in.
He said; “I am not impressed with what I am seeing. We don’t lack the political will, as we do have it. If you don’t take action, people will not believe that anything is possible. As I go back now, I will call the Development Control Department and give them ultimatum for these people to leave. They have been compensated since 2015, but if that was the case, I don’t know why we couldn’t fence the area up till now.
“When this fencing takes place, you will see that they wouldn’t have choice, but to leave.
“I have invited the Minister of Science and Technology, so that he could take active possession of the place and see how investors can come in.
“I was thinking that a lot of activities are going on here, not knowing that it is empty land. The roads have been provided, and that ought to interest investors, but it depends on what you people have been doing since. We must quickly see what we can do.
“I urge those who settled here illegally to know that we will not hesitate to move them out. No amount of campaign will stop us from doing the right thing.
“You are in charge of this place, and you don’t even have an office here, at least to show presence and tell people that we are here. So, if an investor is coming now, he is coming to meet an empty land, and you are renting an office outside the village.
“Please, let us know what it will take to erect a befitting office, so you can leave that place that you said that you are renting. If you calculate the amount of money you spend renting, it is a waste, as you could use that money to start doing something good”, he added.
On his part, the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Mr. Uche Nnaji who was with Wike during the inspection tour, said the ministry plans to transform the village into a model similar to London Technology City or, if possible, an example of Silicon Valley in the USA.
He noted that companies had indicated interest about a month ago to commence work, but it was delayed due to the presence of the illegal settlers.
According to the minister, “We have a vision of this technology village, it is a vision of what is like London Technology City, with an asset base of six billion pounds, in less than six years of operation, which is what we intend to do in this place, and a replica of Silicon valley in the USA.
“So the infrastructure and technology that this place is going to house in a couple of years would be humongous.
“We are not impressed with what is happening here. There was a company in America that came about a month ago, and wanted to put in 200 Mega watts of power here. There are so many other companies that want to start right away, but as this encroachment continues, we have to stop it somewhere, and see how we can take over, either compensate the owners or demolish them. This is because, it is bigger than what we have here”.
It would be recalled that the Abuja technology village was created by Federal Government shortly in 1999. It is said to be Free Trade Zone, expected to incubate science and technology.
