The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on Tuesday in Abuja charged owners of undeveloped plots of lands to rid their lands of criminal elements and develop the lands.
Chairman, FCTA Ministerial Taskforce on City Sanitation, Mr Ikharo Attah, issued the warning when he led a clean-up operation in the City Centre.
Attah decried the rate at which criminal elements were converting all available spaces to hiding places.
He noted that frightening things were found at some of the places so far raided and demanded that the raids be intensified.
Attah said that the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello, had assured that he would muster enough political will and ensure that illegalities and criminalities in the territory were brought to an end.
“We discovered there have been so much intra-city robberies. From our checks we found that the criminals live among the people in shanties.
“Today we started intensive operations around the Central Business District, Wuse and Jahi District.
“Most people in Abuja have experienced robberies and these places are where the criminals live. We found Indian hemp farms and also came across some suspected drug addicts.
In his remarks, Secretary, FCTA Command and Control Centre, Mr Peter Olumuji, said the raids were in response to the residents’ complaints of incessant criminal attacks.
Olumuji noted that invasion of the criminal hideouts within the city centre was to send a signal to all criminals that effective policing of the city had come to stay.
He stressed that the raids would continue for as long as it would take to restore security and safety in the territory.
