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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has reaffirmed its commitment to ongoing efforts to clear shanties and parks used as hideouts by criminals within the Federal Capital City (FCC). This follow-up to last week’s enforcement action highlights a sustained campaign against illicit activities that threaten public safety and the capital’s image.
According to the FCT Minister’s Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, in a statement on Sunday, the demolition of a section of Jazz and Blues Entertainment at Panorama Recreational Park in Wuse Zone 3 was a critical part of these safety interventions. He stressed that “the operation was a targeted public safety intervention based on credible intelligence, and not an act of persecution against anyone.”
Security agencies involved, including the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Department of State Services (DSS), “identified several locations and facilities that serve as criminal hideouts and safe havens across the Federal Capital City.” Among these hotspots is the Banana Green Belt area, stretching from the Central Mosque towards Zones 1 and 3 of Wuse District, as well as along the Area 10 corridor.
The statement explained, “In these areas, innocent citizens are assaulted by assailants who then run to seek refuge within the surrounding Banana Green Belt/vegetation cover to escape arrest.” Firm intelligence, gathered through surveillance and undercover investigations, pointed to the Panorama Recreational Park as a locus of organized criminal activity, particularly in a segment containing shanties and batchers tied to these networks.
In response, the FCTA, alongside security agencies, initiated “a city-wide cleanup exercise of all identified criminal hideouts across the FCC on Wednesday, August 6, 2025,” aiming “to remove these criminal hideouts, and restore sanity and security to the FCC.”
Addressing concerns about the approach taken against the park’s management, Olayinka noted, “Contrary to claims of abrupt action, the FCTA Department of Development Control issued several Contravention Notices to the Park’s Management prior to the exercise,” starting from February 2024 and culminating in a final eviction order dated July 25, 2025, all of which were ignored.
Clarifying the scope of the operation, the FCTA assured the public that “the main facilities/activities within the park (i.e., the football field, its viewing platforms, the Gymnasium area, and several other facilities) were unaffected and remain functional following the removal of these criminal elements from the park.”
Responding to public discourse surrounding the involvement of Air Commodore Balogun, the FCTA stated, “While the FCTA acknowledges and respects the military service of Air Commodore Balogun, it reiterates that national service is not a license for any individual to harbour criminal elements/activities, and endanger the general public.”
Reiterating its resolve, the FCTA declared, “Not minding any orchestrated media reports, the FCTA will continue with the city-wide cleanup exercise in the coming weeks and this shall be extended to other Districts within the FCC, in order to achieve the administration’s goal of building a city where its residents will be safe to live, work and recreate.”
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