Inadequate equipment and vehicles hindering the war against banditry and kidnappings

Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike on Monday said insufficiency of operational equipment and vehicles was hampering the ongoing war against banditry and kidnapping in the FCT.

Wike, who said this during a chat with newsmen in Abuja, also attributed the recent rise in kidnappings in some FCT border communities to lack of equipment to track criminals.

He however assured residents that security issues would soon be addressed following the approval of the emergency procurement by President Bola Tinubu.

He said the approval was for the acquisition of digital tracking tools and operational vehicles to help stop kidnappers in their tracks.

“Not many facilities were provided and there are no vehicles for security agencies.

“It cannot be believed that there are no teams to track criminals and when something happens, the security agencies return to the Office of the National Security Advisor or the Force Headquarters.

“This is not how it’s supposed to be,” the minister said.

According to him, security agencies need special equipment to be able to reduce the level of crime, particularly those that help them track the specific location of phone users.

He said the FCT administration had been able to identify what each of the security agencies needed and what would be provided through emergency procurement.

“Again, before we came on board, the police had said that they had requested the purchase of a certain number of motorcycles where vehicles cannot reach: the remote areas. Some of these areas are mountainous.

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“Unfortunately they did not provide us with the motorcycles, but now we have been able to do it,” he said.

Wike, who said security was not just about equipment, added that staff needed motivation.

According to him, this needs to be resolved to ensure the success of security operations.

He added that the FCTA would also establish a Joint Task Force with a complete command and control structure and well equipped to respond in security emergencies.

“The next thing is to establish a joint security team here, where they have their own structure and equipment so that if something happens, the task force knows what their role is and comes in.

“Yes, it will cost us some funds and it will take us some time, but the important thing is that we have identified that this is a gap that we have to fill,” the minister said.

(YAYA)