Mrs Oluwatoyin Olanipekun, the Director, Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), said AEPB and the Task Team on Environment have raided a hideout of suspected beggars and scavengers in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja.
Olanipekun said this at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja, adding that weapons such as knives, daggers and cutlasses were seized from the hideouts.
She said that the combined team of the AEPB and the Task Team on Environment were on routine operation when they carried out the raid.
The director added that all those arrested during the clearing operation were handed over to police for investigation and further necessary action.
She explained that begging and scavenging activities in the Federal Capital City remained prohibited, and warned that defaulters would be prosecuted at the Sanitation Mobile Court if arrested.
“There have been cases of stolen manhole covers and scavengers have been the prime suspects of the crime, which necessitated the FCT Administration to ban their activities in the city.
“The AEPB, the Ministerial Task Team and other security agencies in the FCT will soon commence full enforcement and prosecution,” she said.
Olanipekun called on residents of the FCT to give useful information to security agencies “to ensure that miscreants and criminal-minded persons are exposed and dislodged from the city.”
She assured that the AEPB would not relent in its efforts to ensure that the FCT environment remained clean and protected for the benefit of residents.
Recently, Hakeem Muri-Okunola, Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Youths, Sports and Social Development, has advised residents to be wary of giving alms to beggars, saying the aid and abet criminals.
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