Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike has held his maiden meeting with the six Local Government Chairmen in the FCT.
The meeting which held yesterday was an opportunity for the council chairmen to brief the Minister in recent developments in their areas.
A major concern was the 19 persons kidnapped by gunmen in the FCT, others are the activities of illegal miners, development of satellite towns and sanitation.
The minister, who was miffed at the developments said he would summon the FCT Director of Department of State Services as well as the Commissioner of Police to receive up-to-date briefings on the kidnap and facilitate rescue operations.
Wike asked the council Chairmen to set up surveillance task force in their areas to monitor mining activities, promising to meet with his counterpart in Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, to eliminate illegal mining in the FCT.
Kwali Area Council Chairman, Danladi Chiya, at the meeting appealed to the Minister and the Minister of State, Dr. Mariya Mahmoud, to come to their aide on their many challenges.
“When we heard about your appointment, we were happy because you have been a council chairman and, therefore, understand our challenges. Our challenges are inadequate funding of the local government system.
“We have the major challenge of insecurity across the six Area Councils. Just today (yesterday), about 19 people were kidnapped in Bwari Area Council. I just received about five in my council, who were in captivity for about six days.
“The next is the development of satellite towns. The issue of sanitation is one of the major challenges confronting us. There is also no efficient transport facility. The Abuja Urban Mass transit buses are no longer functional,” Chiya said.
Kuje Area Council Chairman, Abdullahi Sabo also at the meeting lamented the menace of illegal miners while his counterparts and Chairman, Bwari Area Council, John Gabaya advocated greater inclusion of council Chairmen in land allocations.
The Minister however promised to meet with relevant stakeholders to address the concerns to bring lasting solution.
