Insecurity has taken its toll on the residents of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, in recent times with heightened incidents of kidnapping and car theft, which were hitherto not rampant in the Nigerian capital city while the common crime of “one chance” is on steady rise.
Only last week, six persons were reported to have been kidnapped in both broad day light and other times of the day in the FCT, Abuja.
These victims include, a lecturer with Base University, Abuja who was kidnapped in broad day light, two teenagers returning from Islamiyyah School at 6pm in Wuse Zone 6; one Hannah Azuibuike at 8:30pm, near Habiba plaza, Maitama; and Ummi Umar-Ardo who was kidnapped at 7:4pm outside Blickers Super Market, Kwame Nkurumah Street, Asokoro.
About two weeks ago, a staff of the African Independent Television (AIT), named Abayomi, was attacked and killed by hoodlums suspected to be ‘one chance’ on his way to work. His body was found along Kubwa Expressway mutilated. He was said to have struggled with them and they killed him.
The ‘one chance’ form of criminality is a situation where criminals will disguise as commercial taxi or even private vehicle operators and pick innocent victims after which the criminals will convey them to secluded places and dispossess them of their belongings, often at gun point.
A victim of the ‘one chance’ in Abuja, who does not want her name on print, told BDSUNDAY that a month ago, she boarded an unmarked car from NICON Junction to Area 1 but was instead driven to secluded place around Jabi, where the hoodlums, who were wielding all kinds of dangerous weapons, robbed her and another passenger.
“They first of all detained me and the other passenger and robbed us of our belongings. They also seized our ATM cards and tested it with the POS gadget they had, and when it was confirmed we had cash in the account, one of them quickly rushed to the bank while the other two detained us at gunpoint. They withdrew all the money we had in the bank before they set us free. It was a traumatic experience, I don’t know what Abuja is turning into,” she said.
Also lamenting his ordeal, on Thursday, The Abuja Bureau Chief of Punch Newspapers, Lekan Adetayo, who lost his car to thieves about two weeks ago, in front of First Bank Commasie Building in the Central Area, of the FCT, told BDSUNDAY that it is “better imagined than experienced to lose your possession just like that.”
“In my own case, it was when I reported to the police that I got to know that in that particular area, the police have been receiving reports of car theft. So, I expected that since they have been receiving reports about car theft at that particular spot, they should not be told before they will beef up security around there,” he said.
He said further that “even if they (police) are not going to beef up security I expected that they can also do discreet operation not necessarily coming there with their patrol van. They also can be mixing with people around there in an undercover kind of a thing. My opinion is that those who perpetrate that act hang around that place,” he added.
Speaking to BDSUNDAY on the increasing level of criminality in the FCT, Law Mefor, clinical forensic psychologist, said: “These are symptoms of a worse security situation coming”, adding that the police are “under-trained, under-equipped, and under-motivated,” to tackle the spate of crime ravaging the capital city.”
According to him, “Unless a nation gets its police right, its security architecture can’t be right. You can see evidence of complete collapse of intelligence gathering. The police performance is really underwhelming; only occasional successes here and there. Part of the problem is the over-centralised police.”
He added that “Every crime is local and yet, we insist on central police force. State police has since become inevitable but politics hasn’t allowed us to face that reality.”
He averred that the troubling security situation in Abuja can be solved using creative intelligence gathering and incentives. “Through intelligence, it is possible to understand how the gangs operate and locate the hideouts. They are not spirit,” he added.
He blamed the increasing crime rate in FCT on a spillover from the heightened insecurity in the Middle Belt and escalating fault lines all around the country.
“As far as I am concerned, it is the killer herdsmen that are kidnapping and running the highway robbery gangs. Many of them are not likely to be Nigerians even. But nobody wants to examine that factor. Instead, there is registration for illegal immigrants now. What stops these criminals registering also? They have taken over our forests and nobody is doing anything about it and states are not permitted to form security systems to face them,” he said.
He bemoaned the fate of the police, stressing that they are so relegated and underfunded. He added that 400 thousand policemen cannot provide security to 200 million populations, adding that it is pathetic that about half of that number are guarding public institutions and politicians, and not really involved in the main police duties. He maintained that state and community police remained the solution to the crisis.
Another worrisome dimension to the crime rate is the alleged involvement of some security officers in aiding and abetting criminals. In this regard, the expert suggested that it should be handled in two ways. One is to set up crack internal affairs teams in the IGP office to police the police and pursue to logical conclusion those officers and men involved in such high crime.
“There must be the political will on the part of the IGP to deal with the issue. He has to set up the internal affairs units and coordinate it personally. But after all said and done, without state police, security will not significantly improve in Nigeria. Mark my words!” he said.
However, following the reported cases of kidnapping of six persons in FCT recently, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Muhammad Bello, who confirmed the incident, however, said that only two persons have been kidnapped. He said that the two have been released, while the fate of the remaining four remained unknown at the time of this report.
Apparently worried by the rising crime and insecurity, the Minister summoned a meeting of the FCT Security Committee, comprising heads of Police, Military and Para Military formations in the Territory as well as Area Council Chairmen and Religious Leaders last Tuesday to find solutions to the ugly development.
At the end of the meeting, Bello declared that Abuja was safe but cautioned FCT residents not to leave security matters to the law enforcement agencies alone and noted that in comparison to several cities around the world, FCT was the safest.
He urged the residents not to be swayed by rumours or unverified online news but to confirm their veracity before circulating. He said that fake news or false security information has the capacity to lead to breach of peace.
According to him, “It is almost impossible for security agencies to be everywhere one hundred percent…so, every resident in a way is also a security officer. So, it is very important for residents to be vigilant…to be very conscious of their personal security.
“If for instance, you see a vehicle without number plates, it means that vehicle is not registered and can be used for criminal activities; please report to the relevant authorities”.
As part of measures to address the present security challenges, Bello said the FCT Administration would continue to partner and render support to the Nigeria Police, the Military and Para-military Commands in the FCT that are charged with the task of keeping the city secure.
Also speaking on the growing ‘one chance’ menace, the Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, Bala Ciroma said so far, over 100 suspected perpetrators of the crime have been arrested and their vehicles confiscated while a Unit within the CID was created specifically to combat ‘one chance’.
Ciroma explained that since ‘one chance’ criminals perpetrate their acts by using unregistered and unpainted taxis, Police was collaborating with the FCT Directorate of Road Transport Services to apprehend the criminals.
He promised that there would be more deployment of officers and men across the city to combat crime, adding that the Force is intensifying both vehicular and foot patrol to ensure more visibility of officers and men of the Force in the city, emphasising that, the raid of black spots will be stepped up.
Also as part of measures to tackle to insecurity in the FCT, the Police Chief stated that community policing, involving a robust collaboration between the police and the citizenry will be intensified.
He pointed out that the method has succeeded in curbing criminality in the Area Councils, especially Abaji where information provided by the citizens stopped a kidnapping ring which operated between Kogi State and the FCT.
Despite all the assurances, scared Abuja residents are anxiously waiting to see these measures yield the desired results.
Innocent Odoh and James Kwen, Abuja
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