The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT, Nyesom Wike, on Monday, said that shanties in Abuja were illegal and their inhabitants would be thrown out
Wike, who stated this during a live media chat, said that shanties defaced the cities and served as hideouts for criminals.
“When you say shanties, are shanties legal? You see, we cannot joke with the security. You have complained about insecurity, kidnapping, and ‘one-chance’. These are people who occupy all these charities.
“In fact, sometimes, they take over the corridors where the road is supposed to pass. And when you want to do road, they say, ‘compensate’. Compensate who?
“It is not correct. Mind you, criminals don’t stay where you will locate them. Criminals stay in these locations where you cannot locate them.
“We’re going to make sure that all illegal occupants of anywhere will be thrown out. It’s unfortunate. There’s nothing we can do about it because security is paramount.
“Any government that cannot provide security for citizens has no business in government. You see, we have to be careful about this poverty thing and no poverty thing,” the minister said.
Asked what the government was doing to assist residents of the FCT who live in shanties because they cannot afford to rent apartments in lawfully designated areas, he said it was not possible for the Federal Government to build houses for every Nigerian.
He also said that poverty was not an excuse.
Wike stated, “We cannot say because of poverty, we should allow you to kill people, to rob people, to kidnap people.
“That’s not allowed; it defaces the city, and that is why we have asked people who claim that this land belongs to them, or sometimes, why they are not developing the land.
“Why are you making it possible for these criminals to come and settle here and cause problems for the city?”
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