FCT Battles Banditry Amidst Decayed Infrastructure
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) is racing against time to address teething security challenges amid poor infrastructure, Daily Trust Saturday reports.
Security experts and pundits said the extent at which insecurity had degenerated in the country, even in the Federal Capital Territory and its environs, didn’t speak well of the government.
They said the situation was affecting the image of the country and had the potential of scaring away foreign direct investments, even as citizens feel unsafe and abandoned.
They added that achieving a secure city was a product of careful planning and sustainability, lamenting that the master plan of the FCT, which made provision for security apparatuses like Close Circuit Television (CCTV), police formations, well laid out rail and road transportation that could be monitored, among others, have either not been implemented, distorted or abandoned; hence giving opportunity to criminals to wreak havoc without trace.
Of recent, there have been sustained attacks on FCT communities, especially those at the border with Niger, Kaduna, Kogi and Nasarawa states.
Emeka Nwite, ordered the Buhari administration to account for the spending.
However, the present National Assembly has vowed to probe the failed CCTV contract.
The senator representing the FCT, Ireti Kingibe, said the legislators would get to the root of the botched CCTV camera scandal.
“On the botched CCTV camera contract totalling $470m, the Chinese had done their bit, but unfortunately, Nigeria did not make any provision to operate the cameras. The Senate will get to the root of the matter,” she said.
“We can say without mincing words that the gang and its camp have been destroyed. The gang members and many others who ventured into crime and kidnapping in Bwari, border communities linking to the Kaduna axis would never know peace as our concentrated efforts are being intensified,” Adejobi told journalists at the briefing.
‘Suppliers of ammunition to bandits nabbed’
Giving further update, Adejobi also disclosed that some people suspected to be suppliers of ammunition to the terrorists were apprehended on the Abuja-Kaduna highway on January 24.
He said operatives of the DFI-IRT working based on intelligence subsequently intercepted groups of persons on their way along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway.
Specifically, the senior cop noted that they were suspected to be major suppliers of arms and ammunition to bandits operating in Niger, Zamfara and Kaduna states.
“The suspects, upon arrest and consequent interrogation, confessed to the crime. One of them, Ibrahim Hussaini, is currently in custody while the other two are leading IRT operatives to their hideouts, where they stored their weapons for distribution,” he added.
