By Ayo Joseph
Amid the heightening insecurity, the minister in charge of the Federal Capital Territory Nyesom Wike on Tuesday summoned an emergency security meeting with the view of addressing the security challenges currently bedevilling the country’s capital.
Wike, who made this disclosure while speaking at an event detailed that the government was working to strengthen security agencies to enable them effectively tackle insecurity in the FCT. The minister also assured residents of their safety.
Heads of the Federal Capital Territory’s security services, senior representatives of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), chairmen of councils, and traditional leaders are among those present at the meeting.
The security situation in the FCT is also a reflection of the general state of insecurity in the country. Nigeria has been grappling with a rising wave of crime and criminality for several years now, with Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast, banditry in the northwest, and kidnapping in other parts of the country.
The FCT Police Command recently confirmed the deteriorating security situation in the nation’s capital. It said that there has been a series of reported cases of kidnapping within the FCT, and claimed that the Command was on top of the situation. They cited the rescue of some kidnap victims as proof that progress is being made in the effort to secure the city.
In the most recent wave of kidnapping attacks, bandits terrorized a few areas of the Federal Capital Territory, abducting people from their homes.
However, security concerns in the country’s capital escalated when some residents, one of whom was a 13-year-old student in secondary school, were kiled after their families failed to meet the deadline set for ransom payment.
