Despite reports of increased insecurity experienced in parts of the nation’s capital, Federal Capital Territory Administration is insisting that the territory remains the safest and most peaceful city in the country.
The administration dismissed social media accounts of violent attacks as fake news which only exacerbates the dotted cases recorded in the FCT.
Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Security Matters, Abu Mohammed, stated this while reacting to recent reports on social media about the security situation in the Territory.
He said the high level of security of lives and property explains why there are large influx of people into the Territory from all parts of the nation, despite attempts by peddlers of fake news, painting the Territory as unsafe.
According to him, “Although, the FCT is not immune to crimes (banditry, terrorism, armed robbery and other petty thefts) as a result of its location, contiguous to States with high terrorist/banditry activities, the situation is exacerbated by spread of fake news. The print and electronic media as well as social media platforms have been awashed with panic/false alarms, thus further aggravating the prevailing tension amongst significant proportion of residents of the territory”.
Mohammed while highlighting some of the efforts made by the administration to check the situation, disclosed that the FCT Minister recently approved the sum of N102,382,500 for the commencement of the second phase of the G-7 operation.
In his words, “The operation, which will last for thirty days and spread over two months will cost over N207,000. The second phase of the operation will see the commencement of security actions and procedures by members of the G7 which will involve taking the fight to the bandits and terrorists in their dens. Already, some of the neighbouring countries have given their nods to the operation”.
He said other efforts being made by the FCTA to curb insecurity in Abuja includes; Conduct of regular joint operations among the actionable Security Agencies and the military members of the FCT Security Committee, ongoing Clearance Operations of suspected Bandit locations in the hilly, mountainous and forest locations on the Fringes of the FCT, upscale in military checkpoints at strategic locations and regular/sustained joint patrols.
Other strategies includes, setting up of the G-7 initiative where members of the group jointly and simultaneously conduct operations along the perimeters of the FCT with the contiguous States (Nasarawa, Kaduna, Niger and Kogi), mass elimination of shanties and constant raiding/clearing of hideouts that harbour criminals and hoodlums in the Territory.
He added that due to public outcry on the activities of scavengers on rising menace of vandalism and theft of private and public property, including critical national infrastructure Baba Bola have been outlawed in the FCT.
“It was as a result of these efforts that the Honourable Minister of FCT directed all relevant SDAs to work jointly and close down identified scrap markets (Panteka) where the transmission lines and other stolen infrastructure were sold. Also, consideration is being given to stemming the demand side of the scavenging activities by targeting the end users. It is strongly believed that if the end users are identified and punished, it will curtail the rampant cases of vandalizing critical national assets”, he said.