By Stanley Onyekwere
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has intensified its ongoing street-clearing initiative, “Operation Sweep,” following alarming intelligence that criminal syndicates are using beggars and destitute individuals to traffic illicit drugs and gather intelligence.
According to Dr. Peter Olumuji, Secretary of the FCT Command and Control Centre, criminal networks are actively exploiting vulnerable and physically challenged individuals, using them as couriers for illegal substances -particularly under the cover of night—to evade law enforcement suspicion.
”From intelligence we have gathered over time, they use them to courier illicit drugs, especially in the nighttime.
“Who will suspect that a physically challenged person could courier illicit drugs? But they use them to do that,” he stated.
Beyond drug trafficking, authorities revealed that some street beggars doubled as informants for criminal gangs, significantly worsening the security situation in the nation’s capital.
The enforcement teams have also faced aggressive resistance, with some suspects reportedly using walking canes and mobility aids to attack officials during evacuation operations.
The FCTA’s crackdown aims to sanitize the city and restore public safety. Providing an update on the numbers, Ukachi Adebayo, Head of FCT Social Development Secretariat (SDS), reported that 54 individuals (45 adults mainly women and nine children) were removed from the streets during Monday’s operation alone.
This, according to her, brings the total number of evacuated individuals to nearly 900 over a three-month period:
Adebayo emphasized that the exercise is not purely punitive, and those removed from the streets are being profiled and transferred to government-run rehabilitation centers, where they will receive welfare support and vocational training to help them reintegrate into society.
The security and cleanup operations have already targeted major districts across Abuja, including: Maitama,, Asokoro, Garki, Wuse, and Gwarinpa.
Following direct directives from the FCT Minister, officials have confirmed that “Operation Sweep” will remain a sustained, continuous exercise until the capital city is secure and orderly.
