On Monday, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, declared that residents of Abuja were prohibited from entering shanties and that they would be expelled.
In a live media chat with Wike, who claimed that shanties had defaced cities and provided criminals with hideouts, Wike claimed this.
Are shanties legal when you say them? We can’t make fun of the security, you see. You have criticized “one-chance,” kidnapping, and insecurity. These individuals are the owners of all these charities.
They occasionally take over the corridors where the road is supposed to pass. And they say, “Compensate,” when you want to travel. Who is compensated by?
It is incorrect, he said. Criminals, you see, don’t stay where you’ll find them. Criminals reside in these places where it is impossible to find them.
Also read: Nobody Can Suppress Us, We’ll Keep Demolitioning Shanties, Wike!
“We’re going to make sure that no one who lives there is a criminal will be thrown out.” It’s unfortunate. Because security is so important, nothing can be done about it.
“Any government has no business in government,” according to the statement. You see, the minister said, “We have to be careful about this poverty issue and nothing else.”
He asked the FCT’s residents who couldn’t afford to rent apartments in lawfully designated areas what the government was doing to assist them in getting homes because it was not feasible for the Federal Government to build homes for every Nigerian.
Additionally, he asserted that being poor is not a justification.
Wike remarked, “We cannot say that we should permit you to kill people, rob people, and kidnap people because of poverty.”
We have asked people who claim to own this land, or occasionally, why they are not developing the land, because “that’s not allowed, it defaces the city.”
Why do you permit these criminals to settle here and bring problems to the city?
In Gishiri, under the Katampe area of the nation’s capital, Wike ordered the demolition of homes in the right-of-way of the nation’s capital in March 2025.
He disclosed that the occupants had a three-month grace period to leave so that the road construction could continue, but they turned a blind eye to their calls instead.
He argued against the demolition of properties in the country’s seat of power in December 2024, saying he would not be subject to blackmail.
According to Wike, the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) is destroying structures that were illegally constructed on government lands.
“I’d like to let me let you know that Nigerians and Abuja residents don’t fear being blackmailed.”
You simply cannot be in this position and claim to be blackmailed, especially in this Abuja. There are a lot of land grabers. Some of us have finally put our feet up.
