The Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barrister Nyesom Wike, has expressed displeasure with the rate of insecurity in the nation’s capital.
Wike said under his watch, no bail would be granted to kidnappers henceforth.
He mandated the chairmen of the six area councils of the FCT to hold mandatory monthly security meetings to improve the security situation in their respective councils.
Wike, who gave the directive during a security town hall meeting at Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) in Abuja yesterday, asked to be notified if any chairman failed to hold the monthly security meeting.
According to him, any council chairman that does not hold monthly council security meeting is a threat to the security of the council.
“Gone are the days when kidnappers will be granted bail. I will not allow it again. We will ensure that the kidnapper is punished. How will a kidnapper be granted bail?
“Therefore, I will be calling meetings of all traditional leaders, meeting with all council chairmen and meeting with all security agencies.
“If there is no monthly meeting held in terms of security meeting in the councils, I should be aware, and I will hold that chairman responsible for any security breach.
“If you do your job, I do my job, traditional leaders do their own job and security agencies do their own job, we won’t have problems.
“But if you don’t do your own part, I don’t do my own part, he does not do his own part then we are bound to have security problems.”
He assured residents that the government would provide everything that security agencies require to help them to perform their duties.
He pointed out that some of the security agencies do not have the needed equipment and operational vehicles to perform optimally.
“They don’t have the needed logistics and communication gadgets, yet we want them to perform wonders, we want them to perform miracles.
“If they don’t have information, they will not perform miracles; if they don’t have information no wonders would be performed,” Wike said.
The minister stressed the need for all stakeholders to work together and support security agencies to succeed.
“Ours is not to carry guns; ours is to provide information through the area councils, through our traditional rulers; and through my office, then to security agencies.
“When we give them information, they will take proactive actions,” he said.
He promised to construct a police station and some access roads as requested by the council’s chairman, Mr. Christopher Maikalangu.
Earlier, the Chief of Karshi, Alhaji Ismaila Mohammed, who spoke on behalf of traditional leaders at the meeting, called for working synergy between security leaders and community structures.
Mohammed warned politicians against provocative statements with respect to the security situation in the FCT.
“Please do not politicise the security situation in the FCT. Leave the security challenge out of your politics.
“God forbid, if there is a problem here, all of you will run back to your states. We don’t have anywhere to go. So please, don’t create problems for us here,” he pleaded.
The chief asked the minister to compel the council chairmen to hold the mandatory monthly peace and security meetings.
He explained that the meeting was supposed to be monthly where all the Divisional Police Officers, Area Commanders, Heads of Department of State Services meet to exchange security information.
The Chairman of AMAC, Maikalangu, said that insurgents’ activities in the neighbouring and other states had led to an upsurge in migration of people into the FCT as their safe haven.
This, according to him, had increased the rate of crime in rural communities and the city centre.
He applauded the minister for initiating the FCT Ministerial Taskforce, adding that the initiative was already yielding positive results.
Maikalangu pointed out that lack of access roads to some of the communities that became kidnappers’ hideouts, particularly Kabusa, Ketti, Gbawu, was compounding the security challenge in the area.
He appealed to the minister to support the construction of the access roads in the communities, including Ketti, Takushara, Burum, Gidan Kwano, Leka, Kutasa, for the good and safety of the people.
He also appealed for the establishment of a police division within the Takushara axis to provide security presence in all the surrounding communities.
