FCTA begins intensive clampdown on okada riders, vagrants, hawkers, others

By Stanley Onyekwere

In demonstration of a reinvigorated effort towards maintaining the aesthetic status of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the FCT minister, Bala Mohammed, yesterday flagged off the newly formed Special Enforcement Task Team on City Cleaning and Management.

And immediately, officials of the FCT Police Commissioner, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu-led task force, embarked on an intensive clamp down on vagrants, hawkers as well as commercial motorcycle and tricycle operators.

They raided some areas within Garki and Asokoro areas, of the nation’s capital where violators of ban on street hawking and as well as motorcycle and tricycles activities in the FCT, had remained rampant.

This is coming just a week after the FCT minister, had asked all non-performing Directors in the FCT Administration to either resign or be sacked.

Specifically, Mohammed lampooned officials involved in the area of environmental sanitation, water resource management and distribution, road traffic control and management services in the FCT, for allowing it to degenerate to what it is today.

People Daily reports that the FCTA last Thursday, had inaugurated the Mbu led-high powered task force, to galvanize all security agencies in the Territory to effectively enforce all FCT By-Laws including the ban on Commercial Motorcycles, restriction of Tricycle (KEKE-NAPEP) to designated areas in the metropolis, street hawkers, beggars as well as menace of the commercial sex workers.

Meanwhile, speaking at the Flagg off, Mohammed said the FCTA decided to revolutionalize the act of governance by daily assessment and monitoring of the enforcement of metropolitan services instead of taking briefs, which may not be accurate.

He added that members of the task force are ready to work together, not in the manner of the regular task force that works in the usual causal manner.

This time around, we are going to do things right from the onset and sustain it with minimal cost, as part of our statutory responsibilities.

“As we want to ensure that the city is clean, safe and secured for all to live in,” he said.

He therefore urged the general public to cooperate with the FCTA, particularly the task force in achieving the objectives set out for them.

On his part, Mbu said the public would begin to feel their impact within two or three weeks, warning that that criminals and law breakers would no longer have any hiding place in the entire FCT.

The FCT Permanent Secretary, Engr. John O. Chukwu fnse, FCDA Executive Secretary, Mandate Secretaries, Senior Special Assistants, Special Assistants, Commandant of Nigeria Security & Civil Defence Corps, FCT Sector Commander of Federal Road Safety Corps; Director, DSS in FCT and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency counterpart, as well as the FCT Directors were at occasion.