The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has recovered dangerous weapons and impounded 20 vehicles in a major security operation carried out by its task force in Wuse Zone 3, Abuja. The operation, which took place in the early hours of Wednesday, August 6, 2025, targeted a known criminal hotspot and resulted in the demolition of illegal shanties.
Despite heavy rainfall, the task force, led by the Director of the Department of Development Control, Tpl. Muktar Galadima, proceeded with the clearance operation. Speaking to journalists before and after the exercise, Galadima said the area had become a serious threat to public safety and urban aesthetics due to the rise in shanties and illegal activities.
“We have been able to identify a location that somehow poses a lot of challenge to the city’s security and then a city’s aesthetic quality, and we have been able to clear the menace and even chase away people of questionable characters,” Galadima said.
He noted that the clearance followed the directive of FCT Minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike, who instructed a multi-sectoral ministerial task force to intensify efforts in ridding Abuja of criminal elements and illegal structures.
“Moreover, this place has been designated for another use. It’s not supposed to accommodate them. They were occupying illegally,” Galadima added. “In the plan of Abuja, where we are standing now is a proposed road corridor that has been designated as the Inner Northern Expressway just like what we have as Goodluck-Ebele Jonathan Expressway.”
He further disclosed that a mop-up exercise would take place on Thursday and urged property owners in the area to use the opportunity to develop their plots in accordance with FCT development guidelines, or risk revocation.
Director of the Department of Security Services, Adamu Gwary, represented by Dr. Peter Olumuji, revealed that intelligence reports confirmed the location was being used as a criminal hideout.
Displaying some of the recovered weapons, he said: “If you look at some of these machetes I am holding here, these are the weapons most of these criminal elements who hibernate in this particular axis normally use to attack unsuspecting passers-by and the motoring public.”
He explained that the location allowed easy access to both the National Mosque bridge and the Zone 1 bridge, making it a strategic base for criminals. “When they attack, they do not only collect valuables; they also go ahead to machete their victims. Evidences abound in the various police posts around here,” he noted.
Deborah Osho, Head of Operations at the Directorate of Road Traffic Service (DRTS), also known as the Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO), reported that about 20 vehicles were impounded during the operation.
She stated that some of the vehicles were linked to “one-chance” robberies and would be properly documented. “The vehicles would be properly documented and their owners made to pay heavy fines before retrieving them,” Osho added.
The coordinated security effort underscores the FCTA’s renewed commitment to restoring order, enhancing public safety, and enforcing urban development regulations across the capital city.
