In a decisive move to restore order and environmental sanity to the Federal Capital Territory, the Minister of the FCT, Barrister Nyesom Wike, has launched a sweeping operation to remove street beggars, scavengers, and other social miscreants from Abuja and its surrounding towns.
Code-named Operation Sweep Abuja, the initiative is aimed at enforcing the Abuja Environmental Protection Act and curbing rising insecurity allegedly linked to street-dwelling individuals. The operation, according to a statement issued Wednesday by Wike’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, will be carried out by a Joint Task Force composed of security agencies and relevant departments of the FCTA.
The statement emphasized that all those apprehended during the operation will be thoroughly profiled and handed over to their respective state governments.
“In line with the Abuja Environmental Protection Act and other relevant laws, the FCT Minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike, has directed the immediate evacuation of miscreants, street beggars, illegal traders, scavengers, and other criminal elements from the FCT,” the statement reads.
It further noted that Abuja, as Nigeria’s capital, must reflect order, security, and beauty, not a haven for social vices. “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.”
The minister’s directive also targets the notorious “one chance” syndicates operating in the city. The task force has been given full mandate to arrest individuals found loitering, scavenging, begging, or engaging in any act deemed a threat to public order.
“Security of lives and property of residents of the FCT is of paramount importance to the government,” Olayinka stressed. “We must all join hands to achieve a safer Abuja.”
This operation is part of a broader strategy by the Wike-led FCTA to reclaim public spaces and instill discipline in the urban management of Nigeria’s capital city.