FCT Residents Seek Wike’s Intervention Over Alleged Illegal Tax By Area Council

Residents of Katampe Extension in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have accused the Bwari Area Council of imposing an illegal tax and using the police and thugs to harass residents in an attempt to enforce illegality.

The residents, therefore, urged the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, the Inspector-General of Police, and the Judicial Service Commission to intervene in the matter.

The residents maintained that the action of the Bwari Area Council had caused panic when its officials used armed police officers and thugs to invade the area to harass them.

A statement on Wednesday by the President of Katampe Extension Residents Association, Mohammed Gimba, described the situation as “bizarre”, noting that supposed agents and officials of the Bwari Area Council were resorting to self-help and taking the law into their own hands.

The residents also expressed concern over what they described as an unlawful and dangerous campaign by the area council to extort money from them under the guise of enforcing payment for radio and television licenses.

The statement said that officials from the Council were seen indiscriminately catching and bundling gatekeepers manning residential gates into their truck and driving off, for no apparent reason, leaving the residences unsecured with some gates left wide open.

Gimba decried the situation where law-abiding citizens performing their legitimate duties in a private residential building were summarily rounded up like common criminals and detained by officials of the council, describing this as a breach of their fundamental human rights and a flagrant disregard of law and order.

“What we have currently is a situation whereby bystanders, private security men and house helps are being randomly arrested and detained by council officials with the aid of the police, instead of the homeowners. This is impunity and an illegality taken too far,” the chairman said.

Citing the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, Garba insisted that a person can only be arrested or detained if there’s reasonable suspicion of their involvement in a crime (Section 35 of the Constitution of Nigeria, 1999, and Section 7 of ACJA).

“The police don’t have the authority to detain someone just because they’re related to or are the employee of a suspect.

“The law doesn’t allow for ‘substitutional’ detention. More worrisome is the fact that the contentious issue of radio and TV license fees being demanded by the Bwari Area Council is purely a civil matter for which the District is collectively seeking legal interpretation against the background that the Abuja Municipal Area Council recently suspended the imposition of the said levy.

“In any case, the Katampe extension falls within the Abuja Municipal Area Council and not the Bwari Area Council. The escalating harassment, which has led to arrests and illegal detentions, is an attack on residents’ rights,” he maintained.

The Chairman said Katampe Extension has no visible project by the Bwari Area Council, wondering why the council is on a desperate mission to extort money from residents of the district under the guise of radio and television license, which he described as disturbing, particularly because the levies were to be paid into the accounts of a private company not that of the Bwari Area Council.

He contended that, “In a community where people are simply trying to live peacefully, these actions create fear, disrupt lives, and smack of extortion rather than lawful revenue collection.”

“In view of the above, we urge the Bwari Area Council to immediately halt these aggressive actions and engage in constructive dialogue with Katampe Extension residents. Clear explanations of the legal basis for these demands, coupled with a more consultative approach, would foster trust rather than fear. Residents are willing to engage, but they will not silently endure harassment,” the statement said.