News Editor
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello, has urged security agencies to work in synergy to check criminal activities in the territory.
Mr Anthony Ogunleye, Chief Press Secretary to the minister, in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, said Bello made the call during an emergency security meeting with the heads of various security agencies in the FCT.
The minister, who decried the incidences of kidnapping, banditry and other violent crimes in FCT, enjoined the security agencies to work closely.
Speaking at the end of the meeting, the FCT Police Commissioner, Mr Babaji Sunday, said that the FCT police command has already put in place measures to stem the tide of criminality in the nation’s capital.
Sunday said that the FCT police command would also evolve better strategies to combat crime in the territory.
“We were summoned, all the security heads in the FCT for an emergency meeting where we deliberated a lot on the spate of kidnappings and banditry at the suburbs of the FCT.
“We are going to improve on our synergy and further strategize on what we have discussed. We have assured the house that they will see changes.”
The Police Commissioner also emphasised the need for residents of the territory to provide actionable intelligence to security agencies in their battle against criminality in the FCT.
“You know we cannot be everywhere and like the popular saying, security is everybody’s business. We expect the residents to always be security conscious, give us actionable intelligence which we will act upon.”
He also called on residents to form neighborhood watches within estates and local communities to minimize the activities of criminals in those locations.
Sunday said that actions from such neighborhood watches made up of credible members of the community will assist greatly in slowing down the actions of criminals.
He also advised commuters to always patronize recognized motor parks within the city to board vehicles, saying that boarding unregistered commercial vehicles exposes them to dangers.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Minister on Security, Salihu Mohammed, said that the Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS) would clamp down on unregistered commercial vehicles.
“Directorate of Road Transport is doing a lot on the issue of “one chance”. We know the profile of “one chance” vehicles, most of them are not registered or they use tinted glasses.”
He, therefore, called on commuters to avoid such vehicles.
The meeting was attended by the FCT Minister of State, Dr Ramatu Aliyu, the Permanent Secretary, FCTA, Mr Olusade Adesola and the Police AIG in charge of Zone 7, Mohammed Aliyu.
Others were the Commander Guards Brigade, Brig.-Gen. MT Usman, the Commandant NSCDC FCT Command, Dr Peter Maigari and other security and senior officials of the FCT Administration.
