Minister of the FCT, Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, has presented 100 motorcycles to security outfits and the six area councils in the FCT to help in the fight against crime in the nation’s capital.
The FCT minister made the presentation in Abuja on Monday, April 15, 2024, during a brief ceremony attended by the area council chairmen and heads of the security agencies.
Giving a breakdown of how the motorcycles would be distributed, the minister said each of the six area councils would get 10 motorcycles, which they will issue to their vigilante outfits, while the police would get 30.
He added that the Department of State Security (DSS) and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) would get 5 motorcycles each.
Wike expressed confidence that the motorcycles would help to further improve the security situation in the nation’s capital and urged the beneficiaries to ensure that they were used to fight crime strictly in the rural areas.
He said the rural parts of the FCT were more vulnerable to crime, due to their remote and difficult terrains and urged the security agencies to give them the needed protection.
The ministrr also urged area council chairmen to ensure that the motorcycles were given to the vigilante outfits in their various councils, assuring that the FCT Administration would provide logistics for those using the motorcycles.
He said, “I don’t want to hear stories tomorrow that these motorcycles are nowhere to be found again. I don’t want to hear such stories because sometimes when you give out vehicles before you know it, the vehicles are no longer there. Please, utilize these motorcycles to fight crime in the areas you have identified.
“So, I urge you to use it well and take it not for commercial purposes. I don’t want to see the motorcycles in the city here. It should be used in the rural areas.
“So, please let it be taken to the rural areas. All the security outposts, you give it to them so that we don’t continue to hear excuses that the terrain is so bad, they require this and that”.
The FCT minister, who also pledged continued support of the FCT Administration to the FCT area councils.
Wike further disclosed that patrol vehicles would also be ready for presentation to security agencies in the next couple of weeks, to aid the fight against crime and criminality.
He said, “Now that you have been given, this may not be enough and we will continue to provide more. For vehicles, we believe by the next two weeks, the vehicles would have been ready to give out to security agencies too.”
