ABUJA, Nigeria — Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has announced a sweeping crackdown on illegal settlements in Abuja, describing them as breeding grounds for criminals.
Speaking during his monthly media chat on Monday, Wike said makeshift shanties scattered across the city have become havens for kidnappers, robbers, and gangs who exploit unregulated settlements to evade law enforcement.
“Criminals don’t stay where you will locate them. They do not stay in houses where you will identify them. They stay in these places where you cannot locate them,” he explained.
The minister rejected poverty as a justification for lawlessness, insisting that security must take priority. “We cannot say because of poverty, we should allow you to kill, rob, or kidnap people. That is not allowed,” he declared.
Wike also criticised landowners who abandon properties, arguing that idle plots indirectly aid insecurity by providing cover for illegal occupants. “Why are you making it possible for these criminals to come and settle here and cause problems for the city, and then you say the government is not doing anything?” he queried.
He vowed that all illegal structures across the FCT would be removed, regardless of hardship. “We are going to make sure that all illegal occupants anywhere will be thrown out,” he warned.
While acknowledging that poverty exists globally, the minister stressed it cannot excuse crime: “There has never been a time anybody can say there is no poverty—it is all over the world.”
