INSECURITY: Wike Not Cooperating, Thinks He’s Still Governor — Kingibe Knocks FCT Minister

The senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, Ireti Kingibe, has accused the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, of failing to cooperate with her to curtail insecurity in Abuja.

Speaking on television, the senator who was elected on the platform of the Labour Party expressed frustration that the FCT minister has been uncooperative as he has refused every overture for cooperation to fight insecurity in the FCT.

Noting that the FCT Minister feels he is still the governor of a state where he wields so much power, the Senator said, “The Minister feels that Sen. Philip Aduda is still the Senator representing the FCT and so he doesn’t listen to me.

“I have sent requests for appointments to see him and written several letters to him, but never received a reply from him,” the senator said.

She said attempts by her to draw attention to potential flashpoints of insecurity were rebuffed.

“When I raised the problem of insecurity at Mpape, they said I was raising red herrings. Now, they have found out I wasn’t exaggerating; the evil is here with us,” she said.

Commenting on the botched CCTV Camera contract totalling $470 million by the last administration, she said the Chinese had done their bit but unfortunately, Nigeria did not make any provision to operate the cameras. She said the National Assembly will get to the root of the matter.

Kingibe, who also doubles as Chair of the Senate Committee on Women Affairs, advocated closer monitoring of the borders of the FCT, noting that there was much criminal activity at the communities bordering other states.

The Senator stated that in eliminating insecurity, it was important to understand its root causes and address them promptly.

She added that with a growing number of young people being lured towards a life of crime, it was important to empower them with skills and opportunities that would make them productive members of society.

On the way forward, she called for a more structured approach to community policing which she said will help check rising insecurity in the Federal Capital.

The Senator said a combination of community and regular policing holds the key to solving the FCT’s security challenges. “We need more and better organised community policing and more regular policing across the FCT, not the checkpoints they dismantle by 10pm, but serious policing of the rural communities through intelligence driven processes.

“People want to provide information to the security but they need security presence to avail them of such information and mind you, when people provide information and the security does nothing until it gets out of hand, such people get frustrated.”

Referring to the growing incidence of the practice of criminals robbing people in vehicles and sometimes killing them, known popularly as ‘One Chance’, Kingibe said a more efficient and coordinated transportation system to curtail such criminality, is urgently needed.

The Senator decried the high number of policemen deployed to protect wealthy and influential members of society noting that this leaves very few of them to protect the majority of the citizens who are then left at the mercy of rampaging criminal elements.

“I dare say that about a quarter of the police force protects the VIPs which I believe is not good enough.

“We have Agro-Rangers and others who carry arms, but they are not well managed in their aggregate, to provide adequate security for the citizenry”, she said.