PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has approved the immediate procurement of sophisticated security equipment to further combat kidnapping and killings in Abuja.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Nyesom Wike, who disclosed this in an interview with journalists on Monday, January 22, adding that informants linked to the recent kidnappings and killings in Abuja, who were recently arrested by security operatives, were giving vital information that could lead to the arrest of others.

Wike did not offer details of information obtained from the arrested bandits said information obtained from the suspects, but said security agencies had been able to foil more attacks, assuring that government was not resting on its oars.

While bemoaning the lack of adequate equipment in the past, which he said had led to recent upsurge in kidnapping, the minister said with the emergency procurement approval by the President, the story would now change.

“So many facilities were not provided. Vehicles for the security agencies are not there. You cannot believe that equipment to track criminals is not there. When anything happens, they go back to the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) or the Force Headquarters. That is not the way it is supposed to be.

“When I was the governor of Rivers State, the DSS (Department of State Service) told me they wanted a particular piece of equipment. We were the only state that had it then. In fact, sometimes the headquarters asked for its use. That is a special equipment they needed and that equipment, we know how expensive it is, but we had it and that was able to help us reduce the level of crime.

“It was able to track the specific phones, not one that would say, for example, the criminals are around the city here. With that equipment, it was specific. It can track a particular phone to the exact spot or room.

“So, what we have done with the approval of Mr. President for emergency procurement is being able to identify what each of the agencies need, and we will be able now to provide them.

“Again, before we came on board, the Police had said that they had requested procurement of a certain number of motorcycles, where vehicles cannot get to, the remote and mountainous areas. Unfortunately, they were not provided, but we are going to do that now.

“Security is not just the equipment; you also have to motivate the personnel. I don’t want to talk about the strategies, because we are talking about security now.

“Assuming Mr. President did not approve this emergency procurement, we had been to the Bureau for Public Procurement since December last year to allow us to procure under emergency. If you don’t and you have to go through the whole hog of the processes, it can take you two months, and that is not what you tell members of the public, that the procurement process is a problem. No.

“The basic thing is having identified all these, and the security agencies have told us this is what they require, we have to do the needful. We have even gone further to ask the state director of DSS about what they would need to tackle this menace.   

“Not that if anything happens, you have to run to your headquarters to seek assistance. Before you go to your headquarters, something else would have happened. But if you have this equipment, you don’t need to seek approval of your headquarters to begin to seek equipment to track the criminals.”

The minister said while the administration cannot set up its own security agency, such as the sub-national entities, the FCTA would, however, establish a Joint Task Force with a full command and control structure, as well as relevant equipment to be able to respond in cases of security emergencies.

 “The next thing is to set up a joint security outfit here where they have their structure and equipment, so that if anything happens, the task force members will know it is their function to move in. Yes, it will cost us some funds and it will take us some time, but what is important is that we have identified that this is a lacuna that we have to cover,” he stated.

On the informants, Wike explained: “The efforts of our security agencies have yielded the arrests of informants who have told us what they were planning. You should too that we have also taken steps, but we won’t belabour that. All we can assure you is that you don’t need to panic; everything is being done to ensure the protection of lives and property.”

Meanwhile, the minister said FCT residents would get positive news within days regarding efforts being made to tackle insecurity in the territory.

“I can assure you that in a matter of days, you will be hearing positive stories,” he told a town hall meeting in Kwali on Tuesday, January 23.

“We are ready to support our security agencies with whatever they need to ensure that our people can sleep with their two eyes closed.

“We are going to provide the councils with motorcycles to support the vigilante groups, so that they can get information and assist our security agencies,” he stated.

Wike directed chairmen of the six areas councils to strengthen and motivate local vigilante groups as part of measures to reinforce community policing and also procure more motorcycles for the vigilante groups to enable them navigate difficult terrains while supporting security agencies.

He said that the FCT Administration would soon conclude the procurement processes for more operational vehicles to support security agencies in the discharge of their responsibilities, noting: “For me, whatever that is going to bring development or improve security, the government has no hesitation in doing it.”

He charged residents to support the security agencies with actionable information to address any security threat, saying: “We need information from you because without information, the security agencies would have little or nothing to do.   

“If you give them information on time, they will make sure that bad things don’t happen.”

Earlier, Kwali Area Council Chairman, Mr. Danladi Chiya, appealed for the establishment of a Police divisional office and military base in some parts of the area council.

Chiya said bad roads have contributed to the rising insecurity in the area, saying: “The roads are not motorable. Come to our aid to help put the roads in good shape. That will help reduce the incidences of kidnapping.

“We also require further military presence. We need more Police stations especially in Gwako, which has become a haven for these bad elements.

“We also need motorcycles for the vigilante groups. I have given them some, but we need more.”