House of Representatives on Monday raised a red flag over the spate of insecurity of lives and property in Abia, Abuja, the nation’s capital city, and other capital cities across the country.
The lawmakers expressed the concerns at the National Assembly complex Abuja, during a closed-door meeting that lasted about four hours with security chiefs and other stakeholders on the kidnapping and killings in Aba, Abia State.
Shawulu Kwewum, chairman, House Committee on Army, who chaired the meeting attended by Department of State Security (DSS), Nigerian Police Force and Nigerian Army in Abia, decried the inordinate attitude of security agencies to the safety of the citizens.
“Abia State as one of the original nine oil producing states is naturally affected by some of the challenges facing the oil bearing states. Even though at the town hall meeting, several groups and individuals told the committee that at least five persons are kidnapped everyday in Aba. Records of the Nigerian Police Force as made available to the Committee in Umaga show that five incidences of kidnap in January 2016 (all rescue and released); three incidences recorded in February 2016 (three rescued/released).
“Also in March 2016, four incidences were recorded, three rescued while one died; in April 2016, one incident was recorded while two incidences were recorded in May 2016.
“Even one kidnapping in one location is not acceptable and therefore all hands must be on deck to ensure that this menace is wiped out. Of course, this has become more urgent because kidnapping has become widespread and even the FCT is not a safe haven.
“This meeting has become very important because the technology developed to make life easy for Nigerians is now being used to facilitate the extortion that goes with kidnapping,” Kwewum noted.
The lawmaker alleged that when such reports were made to security agencies, especially THE Nigerian Police, they were told that they do nOt have jurisdiction on the area concerned.
He added that many businesses were already folding up in Aba due to the spate of kidnappings of innocent citizens, adding that security situation had taken a new turn considering the killing of armed security operatives.
On his part, Joshak Habila, deputy inspector general of police, represented the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris, said ongoing collaboration among security agencies would help in ridden the country of criminality.
