Nyesom Wike, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has vehemently opposed plans to construct housing units for beggars and displaced people in Abuja, claiming that this strategy is inappropriate for the capital city.
Wike made the declaration at the National Assembly’s 2025 FCT Appropriation Bill defense session. Mariya Mahmoud, the FCT minister of state, and other top FCT administration officials accompanied him.
Before holding a closed-door meeting, the delegation first made an appearance before the House of Representatives Committee.
Senator Ali Ndume advised the FCT Administration to adopt a plan similar to that used in Kano decades ago as he expressed concern over the growing number of displaced people and beggars in Abuja during the deliberation.
The indigenes or the displaced people roaming Abuja, according to the report from Nigerians, driving or arresting them. According to Senator Ndume, what you need to do is what the Kano government did in the 1970s.
“If you know any Indians, and you have a camp where you can feed and train them, you can pick them off the street.”
READ ALSO: Beginning On Monday, Wike, We Will Start Picking Up Beggars In FCT.
Wike quickly refuted the suggestion, saying that the peculiarity of Abuja as the nation’s capital necessitates a different approach.
The Federal Capital Territory is located here. He claimed that the processes in the FCT will not be the same as those in Kano, Rivers, Sokoto, or Ondo.
“These people are not native Americans,” you say. It will be challenging for us to adhere to that kind of pattern in a city like the FCT, where all the international bodies are located.
He also cited the capital city’s unique security restrictions.
Understand, on security, that this is where the President, the Chief of Army Staff, and the Defense Headquarters are located. We are unable to overtake the FCT’s entire security architecture, Wike added.
The Minister went further and issued a warning to beggars by the side of the road, urging them to leave or face arrest by law enforcement. He previously issued an ultimatum to all concerned people to leave the streetsides on October 27, 2024, citing the rise of such individuals as a threat to urban security.
The Minister lamented the rising number of people loitering on the roadsides while halting the construction of an access road to Katampe’s newly commissioned Judges’ Quarters.
Source: Channels TV
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