Gwarinpa: Residents kick as businesses takeover houses

*Fears increase in crime

Gwarinpa, a hitherto residential area is fast turning into a commercial hub in Abuja. There are several business outlets in the district with hotels, eateries, lounges/clubs, supermarkets and photo studios topping the list of prominent businesses domiciled in the previously sleepy district.

Most of the buildings housing the businesses were residential premises and since they have been converted to commercial purposes, the Development Control Department of the Federal Capital Territory Administration has placed stop work order on some of them but that is yet to deter the business owners.

The surge, however, in opening up of the commercial outfits has generated security concerns as some stakeholders feared it could lead to increase in crime rate in the district.

Already, there are some hot spots in the district renowned for prostitution while car snatching, burglary and theft are among the frequently reported crimes in the district.

Some residents are expressing fear that increase in crime rate could be experienced if the rising number of commercial outlets is not checked.

Andy Attah is a business man in one of the plazas at First Avenue. He said the rate at which businesses have sprung up in Gwarinpa is alarming, adding that though the businesses might have helped several people, criminal activities have also increased around the plazas and hotels.

He said there have been reported cases of burglars breaking into shoppers’ vehicles parked outside plazas.

“Customers do get back to their cars and discover that they have been broken into,” he said.

The Secretary General of the Gwarinpa Community Safety Partnership, Moses Obisesan, said the residents and stakeholders need to come to terms with the reality and work on remedying the situation.

“I really don’t know what is happening, it is not just one or two buildings, it is a stretch of Third Avenue,” he said, adding that house owners just covert residential houses to commercial purposes with little consideration on its effects on other residents.

He said a situation whereby residents contravene the master plan posed serious threat to the entire district, adding that there are more than 30 housing estates within Gwarinpa.

“The authorities and the residents should come to terms with the fact that Gwarinpa was designed to be a residential area and not commercial.

“The master plan clearly did not put some places as commercial like the Third Avenue but the stretch of the avenue is more commercial than even some places that have been earmarked for commercial activities in the master plan,” he said.

He described the situation as awkward because many house owners now prefer to sell their houses and relocate to elsewhere instead of staying in some locations that have been filled with commercial outlets.

“You have gridlock, the road gets bad quickly and we require some level of order as it is becoming a bit chaotic and mostly on Third Avenue and a good part of First Avenue. Even the crime rate is up and if nothing is done, it will soar while facilities will be overstretched and then noise pollution,” he said.

Moses also said some people now find it difficult to get to their houses due to traffic gridlock and described noise pollution among reasons why some house owners prefer to relocate.

“In all of that there is positive side to it, but there must be some level of regulation and adherence to the law,” he said, adding that government and the residents association needed to do more to adjust the master plan, since we can always upgrade.

He said the Federal Capital Development Administration (FCDA) and Federal Housing Authority needed to fine tune “a whole lot.”

“There are over 30 housing estates within Gwarinpa and they need to find a way to ensure that there is better control and whether to upgrade the master plan.

“There needs to be some understanding or dialogue between the residents and the authorities. It is terrible what we have presently in Gwarinpa,” he said, while expressing hope that the situation would be looked into before it degenerated further.

While others are lamenting about the rise in commercial outlets, Philip Audu, a security guard at one of the outlets however saw nothing wrong about the situation.

Philip who has been a guard at the outlet for more than a year, said the businesses do not affect residents. He also said most of the businesses have security guards that ensure that vehicles are parked appropriately.

Moshood Korede, another resident said Gwarinpa is fast turning into a beehive of business activities due to the type of people that stay in the district.

“Big men are here and most of the businesses are on the roadside which makes it easier for people to drive in and out,” he said.

A manager at Domino Pizza who preferred to be called Franca said the outlet was not disturbed by the revert mark on the building, adding that it has been settled with the authorities.

She said sales have been good at the outlet because the location of the eatery was easily accessible to business people within the district during lunch hours and the residents while on their way home in the evening.

However, the Gwarinpa Divisional Police Officer (DPO), CSP Nuruddeen Sabo, has expressed concern over the conversion of residential houses for commercial use, adding that the situation keeps rising on Third Avenue.

“There is a problem because we are having manpower challenge. We only patrol Third Avenue because it is the most affected,” he said.

He said he had stopped some houses from being used as clubs due to the rise in prostitution, though he admitted that prostitution was yet to be fully tackled within the district and attributed the menace to the increasing number of residential houses converted into guest houses and hotels.

He said the division has received some petitions from residents complaining about the activities of some of the businesses, saying two occupants had approached his office about the disturbances from residential buildings which have been converted into hotel and another a church.

He said the occupants reported that since the houses were converted, they do not have good night sleep, adding though that in some cases the police were handicapped as the owners have got the permit to use the building for business purpose from the government.

“Converting houses to so many hotels and plazas will be a threat to security because it will increase crime rate. There are reports we have about prostitutes prowling the streets due to the presence of hotels,” he said.

He added that strict adherence to the Abuja master plan would help in remedying the situation otherwise, “security will be overstretched.”

This report earlier appeared in Daily Trust on 01/03/2017.