Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja
Police and other Security agencies in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are to commence profiling of scrap markets’ operators, known as pantakers in the territory.
The Coordinator, Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, Chief Felix Obuah, disclosed this at a meeting with officials of the pantaker markets’ operators across the FCT yesterday.
He noted that the move was to ensure effective monitoring and regulation of the operations of all pantaker markets in the FCT.
It would be recalled that the FCT Security Council, had on January 13 announced a two-week suspension of operation of all pantaker markets in the territory.
Pantaker is a market where fairly used items and scrap iron, including furniture and home appliances are sold.
The move, according to Obuah, was to ensure that only legitimate pantakers operate across the FCT, as part of efforts to curb the menace of vandalism in the territory.
He revealed that a recent raid across some pantaker markets by the Police and other security agencies had led to the recovery of public items worth more than N1 billion.
“Therefore, the FCT Administration and security agencies have decided that all pantaker operators must be registered and profiled.
“This will enable us to identify the genuine ones and determine who is doing what, how and where.
“This will also ensure effective monitoring and regulation of pantaker activities by both security agencies, Abuja Market Management Ltd and AMMC,” he said.
Obuah noted that the pantaker operators were also required to register their buyers, and supplies.
He advised the pantaker operators against buying illegal properties and patronising vandals, stressing that there would be no supply if there was no demand.
He urged them to alert security agencies whenever someone bought something suspicious to sell to them.
He warned that anyone found with stolen or vandalised items in his shop would be considered a partaker of a crime and would be arrested and prosecuted.
Also, Mr Adamu Gwary, Director, Security Services Department, FCT Administration, said that only pantaker operators that were recognised by the Administration would be profiled and allowed to reopen.
On his part, the Commissioner of Police in the FCT, M.r Olatunji Disu, said that the profiling of the pantaker operators would begin on February 1.
“We are not going to stop until we bring sanity in pantaker business.
“We are going to profile you to get a list of people that we think are capable enough to be trusted with the business of pantaker in the FCT,” he said.
