…Nobody can scare us from going to Abuja, says Gov. Sule

Omeiza Ajayi, Abuja

The Federal Capital Territory Administration FCTA has again directed residents to install Closed Circuit Televisions CCTVs in public places for complement its efforts at tracking criminals in the territory.

The directive came in the wake of recent terror alert issued by some embassies in the territory, warning of a possible strike on the nation’s capital.

Also, Nasarawa state Governor, Abdullahi Sule has weighed on on developments in the territory, saying nobody can scare Nigerians from going to Abuja.

Speaking Monday in Abuja, during the foundation laying ceremony of the 200-room capacity Cooperative House of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps NSCDC, Governor Sule charged the security agencies not to be cowed.

He said Nasarawa state is one of the most secure states in the country because the security agencies had been doing their job.

Sule said; “We can not allow anybody to scare us around the world that our country is not safe. Nigeria is safe, Nigeria will continue to be safe.

“Do not allow criminals to cow us. When the US announced the security alert, Uk followed, Australia followed and people are scared of coming to Abuja.

“In Nasarawa state, we had our first security meeting to address the issues because we can not take issues of security lightly and I encourage you, we can’t also be cowed by anybody.

“Nigeria belongs to us, Nigeria is our only country. We must get up as members of the NSCDC and all the other security agencies in the country and defend our nation and not allow any criminal to overtake us.

“Nobody can scare us from coming to Abuja but as you go out there to do your work [do it] as members of the NSCDC…and also as people of Nigeria and that you are doing it for your own children and grandchildren.

“So you should do your best to defend this country and do not allow criminals to cow us into where we are. That is not how it suppose to be and we can not continue to do that.”

Abuja’s safe

Director, Information and Communication in the FCTA, Mr Muhammad Hazat Sule in a statement Monday in Abuja again stated that the territory is safe.

According to him, the FCT Executive Committee (EXCO) has reassured residents of the territory of their safety, insisting that adequate security arrangements have been made to sustain the state of law and order in the nation’s capital, Abuja.

He said the EXCO, which gave this assurance during its 12th Meeting at Gwarinpa I District, Abuja, said every necessary arrangement has been made by the government in conjunction with security agencies to safeguard lives and property of all residents.

Sule added that the EXCO noted that though the Advisory has generated tensions, fear, and panic among residents, the security agencies are combing the nooks and crannies of the Territory to fish out criminals and other persons wishing to truncate the peace and tranquility of the FCT.

According to the EXCO, “Even before the issuance of the advisory, the security agencies have maintained and upscaled surveillance through their personnel within the Federal Capital City to ward off any security breach’.

It reiterated that the procurement and distribution of sixty operational vehicles fitted with the state-of-the-art equipment to security agencies by the Administration is strategically done to assist and enhance their performance.

The EXCO recalled that, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello, had earlier convened an emergency security meeting where issues concerning the security alert given by some embassies in Abuja, to their citizens were exhaustively discussed and measures taken to sustain the current state of security and prevent any breach.

The meeting, however, urged residents to cooperate at all times with the security agencies by volunteering useful and timely information that will assist in nipping any form of criminality in the bud.

“The Committee, therefore, enjoined residents to install Close-Circuit Television (CCTV) in public places and buildings, to complement on-going efforts by government at tackling the prevailing security challenges in the country in line with National Security Council advice.

“The installation, will no doubt, enhance surveillance and deter criminal activities around the Federal Capital City, Abuja,”, the statement added.

The EXCO noted that the first phase of the joint security operation by G-7; being states that are contiguous to the FCT, which ended on the 25th October, this year, recorded a remarkable success, especially with the arrest of bandits and rescue of kidnapped victims.

“Today’s FCT EXCO meeting was presided over by the FCT Permanent Secretary, Mr. Olusade Adesola, who represented the FCT Minister , Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello, and attended by the Chief of Staff to the FCT Minister, Mallam Bashir Mai-Borno, Secretaries of Mandate Secretariats, AMMC Coordinator among others”, Sule added