We’re Coming After You – Wike To Kidnappers

• Says there is no hiding place for criminals in FCT
• Some informants currently in Police custody

BY EVELYN DADU – Faced with the disturbing daring attacks on some parts of Abuja, the nation’s capital, by suspected bandits and other criminal elements, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike, says there will be no hiding place for perpetrators of crime and criminality within the territory.

This is as he also announced that some persons working as informants for kidnappers who have been terrorising Abuja residents in recent times have been arrested by security agencies.

Addressing various stakeholders and residents at a town hall meeting in Gwagwalada Area Council of the territory on Friday, the Minister declared a time-up for kidnappers and their informants as the administration is determined to go after them at all costs.

The Minister, who spoke in pidgin, told the gathering; “The President has asked me to come here today. The other day I was in Bwari, and next week I will go to Kwali. Security is one thing the President promised Nigerians because his job is to protect lives and property. If we can’t protect lives and property, then we have no reason to be in government.

“The President has asked me to assure you that he will not abandon you. So, all these criminals, be ready. Your time is up. You know, if I say I will do something, I will do it. And now that I am here today, if you know you are an informant or even one of the criminals, the end has come for you. I and the security agencies will follow you to the point that you won’t enter Gwagwalada again.

“Some of the people giving them information, we have arrested them. If they haven’t arrested you, it doesn’t mean that we won’t arrest you tomorrow or even before we leave this place.”

The Minister, who also responded to the stakeholders’ requests for more police divisions in the council, directed the FCT Police Commissioner’s representative to work out the modalities, saying; “The CP should work out how we can provide two more police divisions in Gwagwalada. We must do this immediately.

“It is a security matter and must not be bogged down by bureaucratic bottlenecks. The President has given me the power to buy more vehicles. By next week, we will give more vehicles to all police stations. We will give them modern communication gadgets.

“The President has said he does not want to hear any stories of kidnapping in Abuja again, and the security agencies have promised to rise to the occasion. We are very serious. We are not playing. But we need your support too because security agencies cannot do this work alone. They need information. When you give them information, they will work better.”

While urging residents to shun the practice of crowdfunding for ransom, Wike explained that such practice only serves to fuel more kidnapping and embolden the criminals, adding; “It is not also good to go to the radio to raise ransoms. It is a way of encouraging criminals. We know it is not easy when your people are in captivity, but we have to avoid raising ransom. It fuels the activities of kidnappers.”

As part of measures aimed at checking the rising rate of crime in the Area Council, the minister also approved, in principle, the Council Chairman’s request to demolish some uncompleted structures, which have unfortunately become a den and safe havens for marauding criminals in the area.

According to him; “By Monday, the Chairman should bring the letter for me to approve the demolition of uncompleted structures where criminals are hibernating. Don’t behave like civil servants. Today is Friday. Ensure you bring the letter by Monday, and I will be happy to approve it.”

Speaking earlier at the Forum, the Gwagwalada Area Council Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Jibrin Giri, while requesting that more police divisions be approved for them, noted that the Council had not witnessed many attacks since last year, adding; “From January last year to December, we here in Gwagwalada didn’t have many issues of kidnapping.

“We used to have it before, but with the synergy among stakeholders, it was reduced. We have some undeveloped structures, and I will write to your office for approval because that is where criminals hibernate. I will write to you for approval so that we can clear all those structures because that is where criminals hide and launch attacks on people.

“We also need more police divisions in the council because we only have two, one in Zuba and one in Gwagwalada town. We want more divisions in the boundary between Gwagwalada (FCT) and Niger State, precisely in Dobi. Also, we need one in Giri village, where there is a constant influx of people.”

In echoing the Council chairman’s requests for more police divisions in the area, the traditional rulers, who graced the Forum, also pleaded with the Minister to complete work at the General Hospital in Gwagwalada while also dualizing the ever-busy road leading to the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH)