By Stanley Onyekwere
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Minister Nyesom Wike has reaffirmed that commercial motorcycles (Okada), tricycles (Keke Napep), and street beggars will remain strictly prohibited within the Abuja city center to neutralize growing security risks and restore public safety.
Speaking during a monthly media chat in Abuja, Wike announced new directives issued after an FCT Security Council meeting specifically convened to tackle urban vulnerability.
He ordered security agencies to enforce zero-tolerance zones across the capital to eliminate the security vectors often associated with unregulated transit and unchecked street looming.
While acknowledging that a total ban across outer satellite towns remains impractical, Wike emphasized that safety within the city core cannot be compromised.
“We agreed at the Security Council meeting that beyond causing a nuisance, this has escalated into a direct security threat,” he stated, linking the operational restrictions directly to intelligence-led intelligence measures aimed at protecting residents.
Addressing the concurrent removal of destitute persons and beggars from public spaces, he explained that security concerns extend to unmonitored street encampments.
He dismissed calls for the administration to build government shelters, citing both financial sustainability and the risk of creating unintended security pull-factors for neighboring areas.
“If we build shelters, we are effectively encouraging unmonitored influxes from Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, and Kaduna,” Wike explained.
He noted that managing border-state migrations is essential to maintaining control over the capital’s security architecture and resources.
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