The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has vowed to continue demolishing shanties and parks identified as hideouts for criminals across the Federal Capital Territory.
In a statement on Sunday, the FCT Minister’s Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, described the operation as “a targeted public safety intervention based on credible intelligence, and not an act of persecution.”
According to him, security agencies, including the NDLEA and DSS, have flagged several locations as safe havens for criminal activities, notably the Banana Green Belt stretching from the Central Mosque area to Wuse Zones 3 and 1, as well as the Area 10 corridor.
“In these areas, innocent residents are often attacked by assailants who then hide within the Banana Green Belt vegetation to evade arrest,” Olayinka explained.
He noted that the recent demolition of shanties at Jazz and Blues Entertainment, Panorama Recreational Park, Wuse Zone 3, was part of the crackdown, following surveillance that linked the site to sustained criminal activity by organised networks in the FCT.
Olayinka revealed that the park’s management ignored multiple contravention notices issued between February 2024 and July 2025. While acknowledging the military service of Air Commodore Balogun, he stressed that “national service is not a licence to shelter criminal elements.”
He added that the main facilities at the park — including the football field, gymnasium, and viewing platforms — remained untouched.
The FCTA said the clean-up exercise, which began on August 6, would extend to other districts in the coming weeks, with the aim of making Abuja safer for residents to live, work, and relax.
XXXXXXXXXX
0 Comments