The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has announced that over ₦1 billion worth of stolen public assets, including metal components, streetlight materials, and rail tracks, have been recovered from scrap metal markets across Abuja. This recovery follows a sweeping operation targeting unregulated scrap and fairly used goods dealers—commonly referred to as Pantakers.
According to the FCTA, virtually every Pantaker market in Abuja was found with items belonging to the government. This prompted the extension of the two-week suspension earlier imposed on scrap metal markets due to a surge in vandalism of public infrastructure.
In a high-level meeting between heads of security agencies, top FCTA management, and scrap metal dealers, officials emphasised the administration’s zero-tolerance policy towards trading in stolen government assets.
“Any operator found selling or storing items like rail tracks or streetlights will face immediate arrest. No operator will be allowed to open without completing profiling and registration,” a security official warned.
Authorities stated that no Pantaker will resume operations without undergoing full security profiling and business registration. The profiling exercise aims to differentiate legitimate recyclers from vandals and criminals who exploit the industry.
“There is virtually no Pantaker market in the FCT where we haven’t recovered at least one government item. What does that tell us? You are not doing the right thing. You know the criminals amongst you, but you have refused to talk,” said one official during the meeting.
Dealers, on their part, expressed a willingness to cooperate with law enforcement and asked for better security protection, citing instances where criminals previously convicted for vandalism return to threaten or attack compliant scrap dealers.
“We’ve helped recover stolen items in collaboration with police divisions like the one in Pape. Some of those arrested have been convicted and imprisoned. But when they return, they attack us for exposing them,” one scrap dealer explained.
Earlier, the FCT Commissioner of Police announced that the joint task force operation, code-named “Sweep,” led to the billion-naira recovery. He reiterated that the ban on scavengers and scrap markets remains in force until thorough profiling is concluded.
