Weapons including knives, daggers and cutlasses were, on Tuesday, seized from suspected beggars and scavengers in Abuja.
The weapons were confiscated by Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) and the Ministerial Task on Environment during a raid at a hideout in Wuse Zone 4.
AEPB Director, Oluwatoyin Omolola Olanipekun, who confirmed this said a combined team of the board and the Taskteam carried out the raid.
She disclosed that all those arrested during the operation have been handed over to Police for investigation and further necessary action.
The Director restated that begging and scavenging activities in the Federal Capital City remained prohibited.
Olanipekun warned that defaulters would be prosecuted at the sanitation mobile court if arrested.
She lamented that there have been cases of stolen manhole covers in the territory and the scavengers have been prime suspects.
According to her, the AEPB, the taskteam and other security agencies in the territory will soon commence full enforcement and prosecution.
She called on the residents to give useful information to the authorities and other security agencies to ensure that miscreants and criminal-minded persons were exposed and dislodged from the city.