The Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, Federal Capital Territory Administration, has handed over to the police a staff member of the Parks and Recreation Department for allegedly cutting down trees illegally within the capital city.

The coordinator of the council, Felix Obuah, made this known in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday.

Mr Obuah said that the employee, simply only as Abubakar, was caught in the act.

He said that the incident happened on Sunday when he was going around the city.

He stated, “We were going around to see what was happening in the city when we caught Abubakar, who incidentally happens to be one of our workers at the Parks and Recreation Department. He was caught cutting down trees that beautify the city and are important for mitigating the impact of climate change, among other valuable functions.”

He said that the employee had cut down many of the fully-grown trees before he was caught.

The coordinator noted that it was wrong for anyone, let alone a worker of the department, to illegally cut down trees planted by the department years ago.

“We have handed him over to the police for prosecution. This will serve as a deterrent to all the people who would want to sabotage the efforts of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, and President Bola Tinubu in giving Nigerians a befitting capital city. We will maintain the beauty of the city,” he said.

(NAN)