By Abdullahi Muhammad
The Federal Capital Territory Ministerial Joint Task Force (FCT MJTF) set up to ensure sanity on the territory’s roads, check the use of illegal taxis, unauthorised parks and criminal activities, among others, has disclosed that it had arrested 5, 574 hawkers, 1, 835 beggars and 225 cattle across the Capital City.
Chairman of the Joint Task Force (MJTF), who is also the Senior Special Adviser Security to the Minister, Sq.-Ldr. Abdullahi Adamu Monjel, disclosed this to newsmen in a recent chat.
According to him, “this nuisance is a major setback on the security challenge in the city,” and solicits the partnership of residents in the activities of the Joint Task Team on the Enforcement of the Ban and the Restriction of Unpainted Taxis and Unauthorised Vehicles and another sundry public nuisance within and around Territory.
He condemned the recent skirmish between the Task Force and some unpainted taxi drivers, adding that contrary to the social media claims, no live was lost.
“No doubt the rumour was spilled out by some mischievous persons who thrive in illegalities to blackmail the task force and mislead the public,” he said.
Monjel also said beggars were taken to the rehab in Bwari, hawkers to a Magistrate’s Court, and cattle owners fined accordingly to uphold sanity in the city.
He called on the relevant authorities to make laws would reduce this criminality to it nearest minimum, stressing that the laws were obsolete and therefore, could not tackle some the challenges the task force was out to handle “since the fines only range from N500 to N1,500 which they do pay up and dash back to the streets.”
“These beggars and hawkers are not just hawkers and beggars; they constitute serious security threat as a hawker who was arrested with a pistol has been handed over to the police.”
He also called on the members of the public to cooperate with the task force in order to serve them better.
