The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Chapter of the African Action Congress (AAC) has launched a blistering attack on FCT Minister, Barr. Nyesom Wike, over the planned demolition of homes in Kukwaba, describing the exercise as “a war against the poor” and alleging that the action is driven more by land interests than genuine security concerns.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Sunday, AAC FCT Chairman, Agena Robert Ande, condemned the demolition order reportedly issued after the minister visited the community near City Gate, where he allegedly described the settlement as a criminal hideout and directed that thousands of structures be demolished.
According to the party, branding an entire community as criminal because of the alleged activities of a few individuals amounts to collective punishment and a violation of the rights and dignity of ordinary Nigerians struggling to survive in the nation’s capital.
The AAC argued that the residents of Kukwaba are predominantly low-income earners—petty traders, commercial tricycle operators, artisans, cleaners, labourers and school children—whose only offence, it claimed, is poverty.
The party insisted that if criminal elements exist within the community, law enforcement agencies should identify and prosecute those responsible rather than subjecting thousands of innocent residents to mass displacement.
In one of its strongest remarks, the opposition party alleged that the demolition was not primarily about security but about valuable land.
The AAC claimed that poor communities in Abuja have repeatedly been labelled as illegal settlements before being demolished, only for high-end estates and luxury developments to emerge on the same land months later. It challenged the FCT Administration to publicly disclose the ownership status of the Kukwaba land and identify any future beneficiaries if the community is eventually cleared.
The party also criticised previous actions of the FCT Administration, alleging that public assets, including the Games Village, had been allocated to privileged individuals instead of serving the wider public interest.
According to the AAC, no government can claim to be addressing insecurity by rendering thousands of citizens homeless.
It argued that genuine security measures should include improved policing, better intelligence gathering, street lighting, surveillance infrastructure and targeted law enforcement operations rather than the destruction of residential communities.
The party maintained that demolitions only deepen poverty, worsen homelessness and expose vulnerable families to greater hardship.
The AAC therefore demanded an immediate suspension of every demolition exercise in Kukwaba until all legal procedures have been exhausted.
It further insisted that any resident whose home is affected should first be provided with decent alternative accommodation, stressing that no Nigerian should be forced to sleep in the open because of government policy.
The party also called on the FCT Administration to publish all documents relating to the ownership and future allocation of the disputed land, insisting that transparency is necessary to dispel suspicions surrounding the exercise.
Addressing Minister Wike directly, the AAC declared that Abuja belongs to every Nigerian irrespective of social or economic status.
“The sweeper has as much right to live in Abuja as the senator. The trader has as much right to the city as the contractor. Abuja cannot become an exclusive city reserved only for the wealthy while the poor are chased away like strangers in their own country,” the party said.
The AAC vowed to stand with the people of Kukwaba and other vulnerable communities facing similar threats across the Federal Capital Territory.
It warned that it would mobilise lawful protests, pursue legal action and continue advocacy against what it described as policies that disproportionately affect poor residents.
Concluding the address, the party urged the Federal Government and the FCT Administration to adopt what it called a more humane approach to urban development by prioritising resettlement, affordable housing and the protection of citizens’ constitutional rights over demolition.
“Bulldozers may destroy buildings,” the AAC declared, “but they cannot destroy the dignity and rights of Nigerians.”
The statement was signed by Agena Robert Ande, Chairman of the African Action Congress (AAC), FCT Chapter.