Wike To Convert Area 1 Kilishi Market To Car Park

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has perfected plans to convert the recently demolished Area 1 Kilishi (beef jerky) market to a car park for the Area 1 Shopping Complex, THE WHISTLER has learnt.

Recall that the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) demolished sheds in the market on Monday as part of efforts to ‘sanitize Abuja.’

A copy of the FCT Masterplan (as revised in 2018) obtained by THE WHISTLER shows that the location of the Kilishi market was originally earmarked as a car park to service the shopping complex.

The complex which is marked as Plot 24 on the Garki District 1 master plan became a makeshift market for beef jerky sellers following years of lax regulation by past leaderships of the FCTA.

The occupation of the car park had forced motorists and other residents conducting business in the complex to park along the road, leading to a traffic logjam in the surrounding premises.

FCTA officials who spoke off-record to this website said the restoration of the plot as a car park was important for the minister to decongest traffic in the area.

When THE WHISTLER visited the market on the 7th of September, 2023, it was observed that cars that double-parked on both sides of the road made it hard for vehicles to navigate the adjoining Imo crescent.

A comparison of the original masterplan with a Google Street capture in October 2021, showed the presence of umbrella sheds in the space originally allotted for cars in the masterplan.

The administration of Wike had declared that the FCTA under his watch would demolish illegal structures in the nation’s capital, Abuja.

The FCT Minister had emphasized that structures which deviated from the Abuja master plan and those constructed on green spaces would likewise face demolition, irrespective of ownership.

“All those people who are distorting the Master Plan of Abuja, too bad. If you know you have built where you are not supposed to build, it will go down,” he had said.