Malam Mohammed Musa Bello, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has convened an emergency meeting of the FCT Security Committee to discuss how to respond to increasing cases of banditry, kidnapping, and robbery on the territory’s outskirts.
Dr Ramatu Tijani-Aliyu, FCT Minister of State, and all FCT security chiefs were also present at the meeting on Friday.
Following the meeting, the media were briefed by Ambassador Habu Habu Saliu Mohammed, Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Security, and Babaji Sunday, Commissioner of Police FCT Command.
According to the Commissioner of Police, the emergency meeting raised a lot of concerns about kidnapping and banditry in FCT suburbs.
He said that the security agencies also resolved to do their best to ensure the incidents were brought to the barest minimum.
He noted that the all the security chiefs will again meet in his office on Monday to further strategise on what were discussed at the emergency meeting.
According to him: “We have deliberated a lot and have already put in measures, which are not good to air to the criminals as it will be to their advantage.
“But we have resolved among all the security agencies that we are going to do our best and ensure all those things are brought to the barest minimum.
“At the same time, we are going to improve our synergy –all of us the security agencies- and as we speak, we are going to meet in my office on Monday to further strategise on what we have discussed here.
We have assured the house headed by the Minister and Minister of State, who were both in attendance, that they will see changes.
We are also appealing to the residents of FCT to also see reasons and understand that by the grace of God we will be on top of the situations,” Sunday said.
He advised FCT residents to be security conscious and provide security agencies with actionable intelligence on criminal activities.
He also tasked the residents to form small neighbourhood watch within each estate made up people of good character, to curb criminality considering that number of policemen are inadequate nationwide.
“We also work with local vigilantes to improve community security. We work with them hand in hand. They know the terrain. Anytime we have security issues, it is the local vigilante that we rely upon both in terms of intelligence and knowing the terrain. But they are always profiled and work in synergy with the divisional police of that area”.
