The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, has expressed displeasure over the rate of insecurity in the nationโs capital.
Wike said under his watch, no bail would be granted to kidnappers henceforth.
He mandated the chairmen of the six area councils of the FCT to hold mandatory monthly security meetings to improve the security situation in their respective area councils.
Wike, who gave the directive during a security town hall meeting at Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), in Abuja on Friday, January 26, urged to be notified if any chairmen failed to hold the monthly security meeting.
According to him, any council chairman that did not hold monthly council security meetings was a threat to the security of the council.
He said: โGone are the days when kidnappers will be granted bail. I will not allow it again. We will ensure that the kidnapper is punished. How will a kidnapper be granted bail?
โTherefore, I will be calling meetings of all traditional leaders, meeting with all council chairmen and meeting with all security agencies.
โIf there is no monthly meeting held in terms of security meeting in the councils, I should be aware, and I will hold that chairman responsible for any security breach.
โIf you do your job, I do my job, traditional leaders do their own job, and security agencies do their own job, we wonโt have problems.
โBut if I donโt do your own part, I donโt do my own part, he does not do his own part, then we are bound to have security problems.โ
He assured residents that the government would provide everything that security agencies required to help them perform their duties.
The minister pointed out that some of the security agencies did not have the needed equipment and operational vehicles to perform optimally.
โThey donโt have the needed logistics and communication gadgets, yet we want them to perform wonders, we want them to perform miracles.
โIf they donโt have information, they will not perform miracles; if they donโt have information no wonders would be performedโ, he said.
The minister stressed the need for all stakeholders to work together and support security agencies to succeed.
โOur is not to carry guns; ours is to provide information through the area councils, through our traditional rulers; and through my office, then to security agencies.
โWhen we give them information, they will take proactive actions,โ he said.
Wike promised to construct a police station and some access roads as requested by the councilโs chairman, Mr. Christopher Maikalangu.
Earlier, the Chief of Karshi, Alhaji Ismaila Mohammed, who spoke on behalf of traditional leaders at the meeting, called for working synergy between security leaders and community structures.
Mohammed warned politicians against provocative statements with respect to the security situation in the FCT.
โPlease do not politicize the security situation in the FCT. Leave the security challenge out of your politics.
โGod forbid, if there is a problem here, all of you will run back to your states. We donโt have anywhere to go, so please, donโt create problems for us here,โ he pleaded.
The chief asked the minister to compel the council chairmen to hold the mandatory monthly peace and security meetings.
He explained that the meeting was supposed to be monthly where all the Divisional Police Officers, Area Commanders, Heads of Department of State Services meet to exchange security information.
The chairman of AMAC, Maikalangu, said that insurgentsโ activities in the neighbouring and other states, had led to an upsurge of migration of people into FCT as their safe haven.
This, according to him, had increased the rate of crime in rural communities and the city centre.
The AMAAC boss applauded the minister for initiating the FCT Ministerial Taskforce, adding that the initiative was already yielding positive results.
Maikalangu pointed out that lack of access roads to some of the communities that became kidnappersโ hideouts, particularly Kabusa, Ketti, Gbawu was compounding the security challenge in the area.
He appealed to the minister to support the construction of the access roads in the communities including Ketti, Takushara, Burum, Gidan Kwano, Leka, Kutasa, for the good and safety of the people.
Maikalangu also appealed for the establishment of a police division within the Takushara axis to provide security presence in all the surrounding communities.