Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has described the influx of Nigerians from different parts of the country and the widespread erection of shanties in the federal capital territory as unreasonable and unacceptable.

FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, during his monthly media chat on Monday, stated that criminals hide in illegal settlements within Abuja to evade identification and perpetrate clandestine activities.

Mr Wike said, “Criminals don’t stay where you will locate them. Criminals don’t stay in houses where you will identify them. Criminals stay in those areas where you cannot locate them. We cannot say because of poverty, we should allow you to kill people, rob people or to kidnap people. That is not allowed. It defaces the city.’’ 

Stressing the role of security as a priority of any administration, the minister cautioned against using poverty as an excuse for lawlessness in the capital territory.

Mr Wike said, “We have told people who claim that the land belongs to them, why are you not developing them? 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? 

“We are going to make sure that all illegal occupants will be thrown out. It is unfortunate, and there is nothing we can do about it, because security is key. Any government that cannot provide security has no business in government”.

The minister argued that poverty is a global phenomenon, which can also be found in countries such as China, stressing on the FCT administration’s intolerance to killings, kidnapping and the surge of one-chance robbery.

“We have to be careful over this poverty thing or no poverty thing. There is never a time when anybody can say they have solved the problem of poverty, all over the world. Let nobody use poverty as an excuse,” he stated.

Earlier, the federal capital territory administration cleared more than 1,000 illegal structures around Karsana, near Bunkoro District in Gwarinpa.

Officials, last Monday during the citywide sanitation operation by the FCTA joint task force, stated that the exercise was targeted at illegal squatters and individuals perceived of “questionable character” who lived in the area.