The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has launched a new security operation aimed at clearing Abuja and its satellite towns of street beggars, traders, scavengers, and “criminal elements”.
In a statement on Wednesday, Lere Olayinka, spokesperson of Nyesom Wike, the minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), said the immediate removal of these groups would restore order and security in the nation’s capital.
Olayinka said the operation, code-named “Operation Sweep Abuja of miscreants, street beggars/traders, scavengers and other criminal elements”, is already underway.
“In line with the Abuja Environmental Protection Act and other relevant laws, the FCT Minister has directed the immediate evacuation of miscreants, street beggars and traders, scavengers and other criminal elements from the FCT,” the statement reads.
Olayinka added that a joint task force comprising security agencies and relevant FCT departments has been deployed to apprehend anyone found begging, scavenging, loitering, or engaging in activities detrimental to residents’ well-being.
He said those apprehended will be profiled and handed over to their home state governments.
“Our nation’s capital should be a secured symbol of pride and beauty, not a site for street beggars and scavengers, most of whom are agents of criminal elements,” Olayinka added.
He said the FCTA urged residents to cooperate and report any suspicious activities to the provided hotlines as part of collective efforts to ensure safety in Abuja.
“Security of lives and properties of residents of the FCT is of paramount importance to the government. We must all join hands to achieve a safer Abuja,” he said.
