FCT Minister Calls On Nigeria Police To Secure Public Facilities
Malam Mohammed Musa Bello, has appealed to the Nigerian Inspector General of Police to step up surveillance, monitor the activities of vandals in the Capital City and arrest those involved.
The FCT Minister made the appeal when the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.
The Minister called on the Police to apprehend culprits removing vital equipment such as electrical and telecommunication cables, manhole covers as well as railway tracks still under construction.
Malam Bello emphasised that, security agents have to tackle all those engaged in such activities; stating that they have the potentials of graduating into big time criminals if not adequately checked.
“What is more disturbing now is that even the urban railway system that is under construction, vandals have started vandalizing the tracks by removing vital equipments. Of course, the issue of the manhole covers is well known. Each manhole is probably about four meters deep and when you leave it open, it’s very dangerous” he said.
According to him, “even though these might not appear to be very serious crimes compared to armed robbery and kidnapping, they are still crimes because those that do these minor criminal activities eventually graduate to become big time criminals”.
Illicit Trade
He also called on the Police Boss to also expose those patronizing the vandals to put an end to the illicit trade in the territory,
“We need to make examples with some people; or else, government will continue to invest a lot of resources on key infrastructure and people will just vandalize and sale them for a fraction of the cost,” the Minister added.
He noted that, the FCT Administration would continue to support the security agencies to do their job to make Abuja a very secure city.
The Minister however frowned at the situation where some Abuja motorists disobey basic traffic rules; describing it is disheartening.
Speaking earlier, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, revealed that he has deployed horses to strategic areas in the Capital City to checkmate criminal activities.
Mr. Arase further solicited the support of the FCT Administration to provide a befitting Police Headquarters that would give the ambience the Federal Capital Territory truly deserves.
The FCT Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye and some other senior officials of the FCT Administration joined the Minister to receive the Inspector-General Police.
Nnenna.O
