{"id":27042,"date":"2025-09-23T19:48:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T19:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/?p=27042"},"modified":"2025-09-23T20:00:39","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T20:00:39","slug":"wike-launches-drones-clear-forest-in-a-major-crackdown-against-abuja-kidnappers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/?p=27042","title":{"rendered":"Wike Launches Drones, Clears Forest in a Major Crackdown Against Abuja Kidnappers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Federal Capital Territory Administration has launched a major security offensive, deploying aerial drones and clearing notorious forests in a comprehensive effort to dismantle criminal networks across Abuja.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FCT Minister Nyesom Wike ordered the immediate clearance of Kobi Forest, a known kidnappers&#8217; den linked to recent abductions in Guzape and Asokoro Village. The operation follows the September 15 kidnapping of two villagers and the killing of a vigilante commander during a rescue attempt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Director of Development Control Muktar Galadima, who supervised the forest clearance, stated: &#8220;This forest has become an ungoverned space and a base for criminal activities. Clearing it will deny them cover.&#8221; The operation will remove all trees, shanties, and makeshift structures, with plans to establish a permanent police outpost in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a technological upgrade to security operations, the FCTA has deployed drone surveillance for 24\/7 monitoring of high-risk areas. Secretary of the FCT Command and Control Centre Dr. Peter Olumiji confirmed that &#8220;drones are already operational in high-risk corridors and will complement ground security operations.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The security crackdown extends to transportation, with over 700 vehicles and motorcycles used for crimes like &#8220;one chance&#8221; robberies impounded and crushed in the past five months. Mandate Secretary for Transport Chinede Elechi warned: &#8220;The FCTA cannot fold its arms while residents are exposed to preventable danger,&#8221; adding that the administration is implementing driver profiling, taxi registration, and new bus terminals to sanitize the transport sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Local residents welcomed the measures, with Kobi resident Iliya Iwadagba recalling: &#8220;Five years ago, we could walk these roads freely. Now, it&#8217;s a nightmare.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Federal Capital Territory Administration has launched a major security offensive, deploying aerial drones and clearing notorious forests in a comprehensive effort to dismantle criminal networks across Abuja. FCT Minister Nyesom Wike ordered the immediate clearance of Kobi Forest, a known kidnappers&#8217; den linked to recent abductions in Guzape and Asokoro Village. The operation follows the September 15 kidnapping of two villagers and the killing of a vigilante commander during a rescue attempt. Director of Development Control Muktar Galadima, who supervised the forest clearance, stated: &#8220;This forest has become an ungoverned space and a base for criminal activities. Clearing it will deny them cover.&#8221; The operation will remove all trees, shanties, and makeshift structures, with plans to establish a permanent police outpost in the area. In a technological upgrade to security operations, the FCTA has deployed drone surveillance for 24\/7 monitoring of high-risk areas. Secretary of the FCT Command and Control Centre Dr. Peter Olumiji confirmed that &#8220;drones are already operational in high-risk corridors and will complement ground security operations.&#8221; The security crackdown extends to transportation, with over 700 vehicles and motorcycles used for crimes like &#8220;one chance&#8221; robberies impounded and crushed in the past five months. Mandate Secretary for Transport Chinede Elechi warned: &#8220;The FCTA cannot fold its arms while residents are exposed to preventable danger,&#8221; adding that the administration is implementing driver profiling, taxi registration, and new bus terminals to sanitize the transport sector. Local residents welcomed the measures, with Kobi resident Iliya Iwadagba recalling: &#8220;Five years ago, we could walk these roads freely. Now, it&#8217;s a nightmare.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27042"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27044,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27042\/revisions\/27044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}