From Emmanuel Iyoho
ABUJA
In a bid to checkmate the incessant incidences of kidnapping, banditry and ‘one chance’ in the nation’s capital, the FCT minister recently summoned an emergency security meeting with the heads of the various security agencies across the territory with a charge on them to work in synergy to mitigate the seeming increase in criminal activities in transit .
Speaking at the end of the meeting, the senior special assistant to the FCT minister on security, Mr Salihu Mohammed, said that the Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS) was working hard to clamp down on unregistered commercial vehicles used for the crime of ‘one chance’.
He said “The Directorate of Road Transport is doing a lot on the issue of ‘one chance’. We know the profile of ‘one chance’vehicles, most of them are not registered or they use tinted glasses”. He called on commuters to avoid such vehicles.
Also speaking, the FCT police commissioner, Mr BabajiSunday, said that the FCT Police Command had already put in place measures to stem the tide of criminality in the nation’s capital and will also evolve better strategies to combat crime in the FCT.
“We were summoned, all the security heads in the FCT for an emergency meeting where we deliberated a lot on the spate of kidnappings and banditry at the suburbs of the FCT and we aregoing to improve on our synergy and further strategize on what we have discussed. We have assured the house that they will see changes,” the commissioner said.
The Police commissioner also spoke on the need for residents of the territory to provide actionable intelligence to security agencies in their battle against criminality in the FCT.
“You know we cannot be everywhere and like the popular saying, security is everybody’s business. We expect the residents to always be security-conscious, give us actionable intelligence which we will act upon”.
He called on residents to form neighbourhood watches within estates and local communities to minimize the activities of criminals in those locations, saying that actions from such neighbourhood watches made up of credible members of the community will assist greatly in slowing down the actions of criminals.
The FCT Police boss advised commuters to go to recognized motor parks within the city to board vehicles, saying that boarding unregistered commercial vehicles exposes them to dangers in such unregistered vehicles in crimes known as “one chance.”
The meeting was attended by the minister of state, Dr RamatuAliyu; the permanent secretary, FCTA, Mr Olusade Adesola; the police AIG in charge of Zone 7, Mr Mohammed Aliyu; the commander guards brigade, Brig. Gen MT Usman; the commandant NSCDC FCT Command, Dr Peter Maigari; other security and senior officials of the administration.
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