Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, said he would not be blackmailed into calling off his vowed demolition of property in the nation’s capital.
Wike has come under fire for allegedly going beyond his limits to carry out the exercise. He was told to stop further demolition of property by the Senate in a resolution passed on Thursday pending an outcome of an investigation into his activities by a Senate ad-hoc committee.
But speaking the same day the order was given at the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) Secretariat in Abuja Wike said: “Let me use this opportunity to tell Nigerians and residents of Abuja, we are not afraid of blackmailing.
“In fact, you cannot be in this kind of position and say you cannot be blackmailed particularly as regards this Abuja. There are so many land grabbers. Some of us have come to put our feet down. Let heaven fall. It is even better that heaven comes down now so that we would not be fasting again to go to heaven.”
The minister added that the properties being demolished not only pose security risks but had been constructed on lands that rightfully belonged to the government.
“We would stop anybody who thinks they will take government land for whatever reason without formal approval. We would not look at your face. If you like be a civil rights activist or a television personality…
“What is wrong is wrong; no amount of blackmail can stop us. People take government property without approval or documentation.”
