•Nyesom Wike
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, today, said arrests have been made of some persons in connection with feeding bandits with information in the area.
The minister disclosed this during a town hall meeting with the Gwagwalada area council chairman, traditional rulers, security operatives, and residents of Gwagwalada area council in Gwagwalada, Abuja, reports Channels TV.
Though he didn’t state the number of persons arrested or where the arrest was made, he assured residents of the Gwagwalada area not to panic as there will be improvement in the security situation in the FCT in the coming days.
Responding to one of the plights of residents which is limited security operatives in the area, the minister directed the commissioner of police to immediately set up two additional police divisions in the Gwagwalada area council.
This is the second visit Minister Wike is making in the series of area council visits to dialogue with residents and proffer possible ways to end insecurity in the nation’s capital.
Kidnapping for ransom has been on the increase in the FCT, with residents raising serious concerns about their safety.
On January 5, six siblings were kidnapped alongside their father, Alhaji Mansoor Al-Kadriya, from their home at Zuma 1, on the outskirts of Bwari town in Abuja, shooting two policemen.
The captors released their father to go and raise N60 million ransom to secure the release of his daughters.
One of the siblings, Nabeeha, a 400-level student of Biological Science at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, was killed by the bandits on Friday, while her five sisters, including Najeebah, a 500-level Quantity Surveying student, and Nadherah, 300-level Zoology student, are still in captivity.
Bandits have also been operating unchallenged in the North-Western and North-Central states of the nation with Kaduna being the worst hit by banditry. Other states affected include Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger and Katsina.
The latest attacks forced President Bola Tinubu to hold an emergency security meeting on Monday.
