Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike is doggedly taking hardline initiatives against issues of insecurity in Abuja with reports indicating that some relative peace is fast returning to the city, writes Joy Gyakyor.
The recent commendation from the world’s largest association for security professionals, ASIS International, on the vivacious spirit of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike, in tackling insecurity in the nation’s capital, may not be the last.
“The FCT Minister is providing the needed support, including technological equipment to strengthen the fight against insecurity with a view to keeping residents of FCT safe,” the ASIS Abuja branch 273 chairman, Mr. Edward Orim said recently during the association’s 2024 Annual General Meeting.
For a long time now, before the administration of President Bola Tinubu came on board, Abuja seemed to have derailed in providing the required leadership to address headlong, issues of rising insecurity. What Wike’s administration in the territory is currently doing appears to be a hands-on leadership; monitoring, evaluating, assessing, and ensuring and playing its part in achieving a safer and secure city for residents.
Some major deliberate interventionist approaches by Minister Wike to fight insecurity in Abuja, according to the Arewa Youth Assembly include, an approval for the formation of two joint-security task forces comprising all security agencies domiciled in the FCT to curtail the activities of one-chance syndicates, armed robbers, kidnappers, and all forms of criminality within the nation’s capital city and its environs.
The Arewa Youth Assembly in a statement recently declared that the implementation of a digital security monitoring and control system within the FCT transport management system, which involves the profiling of Uber drivers, and the directive for mandatory monthly security meetings by the six area councils in the territory aimed at improving the security situation in their respective area councils, are among strategic steps that are fast helping to curb insecurity in Abuja.
Worried by the concerns that Abuja had in recent times, experienced a surge in cases of armed robbery, kidnapping and abduction, and killing of residents by bandits, especially in Kuje and Bwari Area Councils, Minister Wike in March 2024 while appearing before the Senate Committees on FCT and Area Councils to defend a N1.1 trillion budget of the administration, appealed to the Lawmakers to approve a security vote for the territory to always speedily address security challenges whenever they arise.
Wike explained that approving a security vote for the administration would fast-track the handling of security issues promptly without bureaucratic delays and compromises of sensitive security information.
President Tinubu himself at some point in early 2024 had vowed that he would not rest until all vestiges of darkness such as Boko Haram terrorists, Ansaru militants, bandits, and kidnapping gangs were stamped out across the country.
The body language of the President and his deep concern against this menace is the direction that Minister Wike is driving issues of insecurity in the nation’s capital.
Stakeholders are excited that the FCT Minister has already fostered a partnership with neighbouring states of Nasarawa, Kogi, Niger, and Kaduna to exploit areas of joint security outfits, intelligence sharing, and the provision of the needed logistics support, to nip all security threats in the bud.
Of mention in this regard also, is the harmonious collaboration with heads of security agencies, traditional rulers, and Chairmen of Area Councils in the territory.
The idea is that effective security measures require cooperation among these particular states, due to the cross-border nature of crime.
While enlisting the support of traditional leaders to strengthen the fight against insecurity, the FCT Minister Wike during a strategic meeting emphasized that their support was critical to winning the war against criminal elements in the city.
“They (criminals) must be profiled so that they are known. Who are they? Are they from our communities?
“This is key so that we won’t say we want to solve a problem and then cause another one. If there are things you think we should do too, we are willing to partner with you, so that the challenges we are facing now will be a thing of the past.
“You must work hard because insecurity is not written on anybody’s face. Anyone can be a victim, and that is why we must do everything possible to ensure that our subjects are not victims of these criminals,” Wike told the traditional leaders.
Besides this support, Minister Wike has vowed that the administration under his leadership will sustain action on the demolition of shanties in Abuja, which criminals use as hideouts to unleash terror on the residents.
To secure the maximum cooperation and support of security agencies, Minister Wike recently procured and distributed 50 units of operational vehicles fully equipped with communication gadgets in logistics provision to strengthen their capacity to combat crime effectively.
Twenty-four of the vehicles were given to the FCT Police Command. The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), got 8, the Advance Party/Security Monitoring team of the administration received 6 vehicles, while the State Security Services (SSS) got five.
The Presidential Guards Brigade of the Nigerian Army received 3 vehicles, while the Nigeria Air Force, 005, Abuja, Naval Unit, the Nigerian Immigration Service, and National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency received one each.
The FCT Minister strongly believes that it remains the responsibility of the government to provide the necessary tools for security agencies to confront criminals and make sure that Nigerians sleep with their two eyes closed.
Many security experts agree that the planned establishment of additional police divisions and support for vigilante groups would also bolster security efforts.
The establishment of new police divisional offices in Abuja is expected to significantly impact community safety by enhancing local policing efforts. The hope is that these offices will further facilitate community engagement, allowing residents to collaborate with police in identifying and solving crime-related issues, also, fostering trust and accountability between citizens and law enforcement agencies.
“We cannot say we have gotten it 100 percent right because no society is free of crime. But are there differences? Certainly, yes, and you can attest to the fact that it is no longer what it used to be,” the FCT Minister said on Thursday, May 23, 2024.
While speaking to a diplomatic delegation from Hungary in May last year, Minister Wike also declared that “By the grace of God, we have been able to reduce the level of insecurity. You can attest to the fact that Abuja is safer now because of the way we have been able to tackle the issue.”
Interestingly, a report released recently by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) project indicates that Minister Wike’s claim to a large extent is true.
“Our analysis revealed that the number of fatalities and abductions increased significantly in December 2023, a trend that lasted for a few months. Then, in March, security in the country’s capital sharply improved. The incidents of violence reduced, and so did the rate of abductions and the number of lives lost. This improvement has so far been maintained.”
The analysis continued that “However, if we zoom out and compare the state of insecurity under the Bola Tinubu presidency and Nyesom Wike administration to what was obtainable before then, we find that the picture is not as attractive.”
ACLED database is compiled by a non-profit organization focused on collecting and analyzing data related to political violence and protests globally. It is the most widely referenced source of conflict data worldwide.
The significant milestone that has been recorded under Wike as FCT minister in fighting insecurity in Abuja could better be appreciated with a careful look at a 2020 report by SB Morgan, a strategic consulting firm specializing in market and security intelligence focused on Africa.
The firm in the 2020 report, indicated that Abuja was ranked 11th among locations with frequent abductions. This is the period before Wike took over the affairs of the capital city.
“Over the last three years, close to 50 kidnap cases have been recorded in Abuja, involving over 200 individuals. The severity of the issue becomes more apparent when examining the data from January 2021 to June 2023, revealing approximately 40 recorded cases with a staggering 236 victims,” the report said.
Another security strategy in the offing by the FCT Minister is the removal of beggars from the streets of Abuja. Although this initiative has come with some criticisms from members of the public, Wike insists that the step is imperative for improved security of the city and its image.
As the administration continues to take all of these measures to make lives better for residents, Minister Wike must not forget a critical fact that, globally, city residents and government share an intricate interdependent relationship.
Such a relationship encourages and promotes trust building, a sense of belonging and ownership, patriotism, and an obligation to jointly safeguard the society, be it, a capital territory.
There is, therefore, an urgent need for Minister Wike and his team, to create, establish, and maintain regular contact of interface with residents of Abuja, to secure their buy-in, and support for the government if the genuine quest to eliminate crime in the city is to be tellingly achieved.