There is no doubt that Abuja metropolis is well policed, even though incidences of crime still occur every now and then because much as the Nigeria Police and other security agencies strategise and come up with new ideas on how to secure the city, criminals equally map out their own ways to get by.
There are many police vehicles manning various strategic positions in Wuse, Garki, Maitama, Asokoro, Central Area and others parts of the Abuja metropolis which has helped to counter the activities of criminals in the mentioned areas, but that cannot be said of the satellite or rural communities in the six area councils that make up the FCT.
The Abuja city centre is just one ward out of the 12 that made up the council area called Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) including Gwarimpa, Karu, Nyanya, Kabusa, Gwagwa, Orozo, Karshi and Jiwa, among others.
When juxtaposed to the fact that there are other five full area councils of Kuje, Abaji, Gwagwalada, Bwari and Kwali with hundreds of towns and villages that need to be protected by the Police and other security agencies, one can see clearly that the concentration of attention on the city centre at detriment of the rural communities where crimes take place every minute of the day is an anomaly and cannot solve the security challenges in the FCT.
The concentration of personnel, vehicles and other security resources in the Abuja municipal area is caused by the elitist mindset which discriminates against the citizens that are not materially wealthy and pays undue attention to the rich.
Out of the 2019 population estimate of 3,095,118 people said to live in the Federal Capital Territory in 2019, close to 85 percent of them are believed to reside within the rural areas, leaving a paltry 15 percent at the city centre.
Again, it is not all the people you see at the city centre that live there, many only go to work and do their businesses in the day and move back to the rural areas in the night.
It is therefore necessary for security agencies, especially the Police to re-examine their counter crime strategies in order to pay more attention to the satellite towns and villages where a greater number of people live. This has become imperative because a lot of crimes and criminal tendencies are taking place in the rural areas.
For example, the Police should be aware by now that cultism and cult fights are becoming recurring decimals in the rural areas while they take place in the metropolis or city centre. Almost on daily bases, hundreds of houses are broken into by hoodlums when residents are at work and their belongings taken away.
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At other times, armed robbers attack families in the night and dispossess them of money, phones, jewelries and other items while at other times killing or maiming those they perceive may resist them.
Although some the FCT Police command is rated high in terms of security, there is so much to do to achieve greater heights, especially as the season of Christmas and New Year celebrations are here for the next three to four weeks.
One of the areas where great success has been recorded by the Police in terms of curbing cultism, massive arrest of house breakers and armed robbers is Jikwoyi Police station under the leadership of Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Abubakar Salihu Adamu.
Although many residents of the communities under his jurisdiction see him and the officers under his jurisdiction as gallant and efficient, they believe the station should be provided with more personnel, vehicle and other equipments that would help to up their game as the station covers many villages.
The residents spoke to Daily Times outside the Jikwoyi Police station following the arrest and detention of two men that duped their corporative society made up poor women of over N7million they have contributed from the beginning of the year.
Pius Danlamin, a resident of Dagbana told us that the Jikwoyi Police is very responsive during emergencies, adding however that because their vehicles are few it may be difficult for them to effectively cover the entire area as they would want.
Another resident Vincent Illo whose wife was among the victims of the fraudsters commended the DPO for responding promptly any time distress calls are made to the station.
He however called on the Police High Command to provide the Jikwoyi Police Station and others in the rural areas with personnel and especially sound vehicles to enable them perform better.
It is on that note that we join concerned and well meaning Nigerians to implore the Nigeria Police to take deeper interest in the Policing of Rural communities in the FCT
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