Banditry: Wike orders full security reinforcement, heightened surveillance across Abuja

ABUJA: Federal Capital Territory FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has ordered an immediate and comprehensive strengthening of security across Abuja, directing intensified surveillance at all border points linking the capital to neighbouring states.

Following the directive, the newly activated Operation Sweep Squad – a combined force of the Military, Police, Department of State Services DSS and other security agencies – has been deployed in strategic locations within the FCT.

Briefing the joint team on Tuesday, the FCT Commissioner of Police, CP Miller Dantawaye, said the operation was conceived to create seamless synergy among security formations and deliver a decisive blow against crime and criminality in the territory.

He stressed that the Minister not only initiated the operation but also provided robust logistical support to ensure its effectiveness and guarantee the safety of residents.

Dantawaye, who addressed the personnel alongside other heads of security agencies, disclosed that Service Chiefs and the Inspector General of Police had given full approval for the operation, which comes at a critical time as the yuletide season approaches and security risks typically rise.

He said the squad had been assigned to prioritize areas most vulnerable to kidnapping, banditry and other violent crimes, assuring residents that a coordinated security presence would be visible across the territory.

“The FCT Minister, His Excellency Nyesom Wike, has given complete support, especially in terms of logistics for this operation. He has given approval, and I am sure that by the time we leave here today, the funds for fueling, servicing of vehicles and allowances for the men will have dropped into an account we can access,” the CP stated.

Dantawaye also addressed concerns over the increasing influx of beggars into the city centre, noting that security agencies were working with relevant FCTA departments to tackle the menace of street begging.

He explained that while legal frameworks for the evacuation of beggars were being finalized, anyone arrested in black spots would be profiled, as some criminal elements often disguise as beggars to perpetrate crimes.

We wouldn’t want people loitering around the city claiming to be beggars because we know that some of them are not exactly beggars.

Most come with criminal intent. We are going to profile them and take off the streets those who are criminally minded, even if they claim to be beggars,” he said.

According to him, the exercise will be carried out in partnership with Abuja’s environmental protection authorities once all legal requirements have been completed.

culled from vanguard