The chairmen in the six area councils the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, have been mandated to henceforth hold monthly security meetings.
The FCT Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike, who gave the directive noted that such meetings will help to improve the security situation in their respective area councils.
Wike gave the directive during a security town hall at Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), in Abuja on Friday.
He also urged to be notified if any chairmen failed to hold the monthly security meeting.
The minister noted that any council chairman who fails to hold monthly council security meetings is a threat to the security of the council.
“Therefore, I will be calling meetings of all traditional leaders, meeting with all council chairmen and meeting with all security agencies.
“If there is no monthly meeting held in terms of security meetings in the councils, I should be aware, and I will hold that chairman responsible for any security bridge.
“If you do your job, I do my job, traditional leaders do their job, and security agencies do their job, we won’t have problems.
“But if I don’t do your part, I don’t do my part, he does not do his part, then we are bound to have security problems.”
He assured residents that the government would provide everything that security agencies require to help them perform their duties.
He pointed out that some of the security agencies do not have the needed equipment and operational vehicles to perform optimally.
“They don’t have the needed logistics and communication gadgets, yet we want them to perform wonders, we want them to perform miracles.
“If they don’t have information, they will not perform miracles; if they don’t have information no wonders would be performed,” Wike said.
The minister stressed the need for all stakeholders to work together and support security agencies to succeed.
“Our is not to carry guns; ours is to provide information through the area councils, through our traditional rulers; and through my office, then to security agencies.
“When we give them information, they will take proactive actions,” he said.
He promised to construct a police station and some access roads as requested by the council’s chairman, Mr Christopher Maikalangu.
Earlier, the Chief of Karshi, Alhaji Ismaila Mohammed, who spoke on behalf of traditional leaders at the meeting, called for working synergy between security leaders and community structures.
Mohammed warned politicians against provocative statements concerning the security situation in the FCT.
“Please do not politicise the security situation in the FCT. Leave the security challenge out of your politics.
“God forbid, if there is a problem here, all of you will run back to your states. We don’t have anywhere to go, so please, don’t create problems for us here,” he pleaded.
The chief asked the minister to compel the council chairmen to hold the mandatory monthly peace and security meetings.
He explained that the meeting was supposed to be monthly where all the Divisional Police Officers, Area Commanders, and Heads of Department of State Services meet to exchange security information.
The Chairman of AMAC, Maikalangu, said that insurgents’ activities in the neighbouring and other states, had led to an upsurge of migration of people into FCT as their haven.
This, according to him, had increased the rate of crime in rural communities and the city centre.
He applauded the minister for initiating the FCT Ministerial Taskforce, adding that the initiative was already yielding positive results.
He pointed out that the lack of access roads to some of the communities that became kidnappers’ hideouts, particularly Kabusa, Ketti, and Gbawu was compounding the security challenge in the area.
He appealed to the minister to support the construction of access roads in the communities including Ketti, Takushara, Burum, Gidan Kwano, Leka, and Kutasa, for the good and safety of the people.
He also appealed for the establishment of a police division within the Takushara axis to provide a security presence in all the surrounding communities.
