By Ukpono Ukpong
A scary picture of sordid happenings in some rural communities of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was painted yesterday by security agents.
Chief Superintendent of Corps (CSC), Area G command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Alice Nton, told an obviously shocked Chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Hon. Christopher Maikalangu, how babies were routinely being stolen or kidnapped in broad daylight from their homes by metal scavengers (more commonly called Babanbola) and sold off.
The occasion was a familiarization visit yesterday by NSCDC Assistant Commandant, who doubles as Commander, Area G, Palmer Gloria, to the AMAC Chairman.
When it was her turn to speak, Nton bared it all,reeling off shocking, graphic details of gory goings-on in parts of their area of security coverage. The areas include Karshi,Karu, Nyanya and Jikwoyi.
She narrated: “Scavengers are stealing babies for sale. They have left the primary occupation of picking metals to focus on kidnapping, especially babies.
“In broad daylight, they steal babies, put them in their big sacks and walk away. If a mother sends her child on an errand, that will be the end of the story as the scavengers will steal the child. People are now living in fear in Karshi, Karu, Nyanya and Jikwoyi.”
Prior to that, the Assistant Commandant also had spoken in similar vein.
Gloria said: “Scavengers are moving around and terrorising communities in Jikwoyi, Karu, Nyanya and Karshi.
“In Jikwoyi alone, kidnapping is the order of the day. Armed robbers are everywhere terrorising the people.
“In Karshi, we are experiencing kidnapping because of the common boundary with Nasarawa. However, with the collaboration of the police, we are trying our best to combat the menace.
“We don’t have an office yet. The Chief of Karu had promised us an office, but that has not materialized. Therefore, we are begging you as the Chairman of AMAC to help us secure an office for Area G. It will be of immense help to us in securing residents of Jikwoyi, Karu, Karshi and Nyanya under Area G.”
The visitors pleaded with the Council Chairman to provide them the office accommodation and logistics to enable them effectively discharge their responsibilities to residents.
Gloria said that the menace of scavengers, kidnappers, armed robbers and other undesirable elements was challenging the efforts of the para-military outfit in combating crime.
Also reinforcing what her colleagues had narrated,Chief Superintendent of the Corps, Jane Adole, alongside the Divisional Officers of Jikwoyi, Karu, Karshi and Nyanya, in their separate presentations, expressed the urgent need for the Chairman’s intervention to help them combat crime in the area.
In his response, Maikalangu noted that their requests are reasonable and will be forwarded to the appropriate authorities for timely action.
He said: “The council is here for all. I just facilitated the travelling of one of you serving in AMAC to the United States of America for training, though I haven’t been there myself. Another one is preparing to travel too.
“We are pushing them out so that the international community will assist us in their training and development. When they come back, they will add value to us in Nigeria.
“Having said that, we will forward your requests to the appropriate authorities for prompt action. As for the complaints of the Divisional Officers, you have to put them in writing so that we can forward it to the appropriate authorities. As you know, we follow bureaucracy and laid down rules here. So, we’ll forward your requests to AMAC auditors and relevant authorities.
“As for vehicles, we will have to budget for them. We can’t afford to buy vehicles for all the areas and commands in AMAC. Regretfully, I have had an experience of several Police Area Commands requesting for vehicles, when they learnt that we provided for one particular area. So, if I provide a vehicle for Area G, very soon other areas will come for their own too.
“The Speaker (of the Council legislature) will make arrangements for three vehicles for NSCDC to cover three political areas. We will put it in our budget. That’s the best we can do as we can’t afford to buy vehicles for all the NSCDC areas in AMAC.
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“As for a pedestrian bridge, I will take it to the Permanent Secretary of FCTA (Federal Capital Territory Administration) so that we can address it in our next enlarged meeting.
“Security of lives and property is important; so we will do our best to ensure that AMAC residents are protected. As requested by the DO, we will contribute financially to the construction of fence in the secured land mentioned.”
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