Yuletide: FCT security alert advisory, says Buratai
The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, has again assured diplomatic corps in Nigeria and the entire residents of Nigeria that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will be safe during and after the festive period.
General Burutai stated this while on a working visit to the Minister of FCT, Mallam Mohammed Musa Bello.
According to General Buratai, the security alert by the Embassy of the United States of America recently has raised an alarm over suspected terror attack targeted at the FCT during the Christmas and New Year celebration.
He said that the security agencies in Nigeria have all it takes to contain any terror attack in the FCT and across the country, stressing that the pronouncement by the United States Embassy was mere advisory, which was not out of place as such would enhance security beef-up across the country.
“We are ready to battle any insecurity challenges across the country and I also can tell you that the Federal Capital Territory is also safe. I enjoin every resident of the FCT to go about his/or normal businesses without fear.
The Abuja Times, however, recalls that the Federal Capital Territory Administration earlier reassured residents as well as the international community of adequate security before, during and after the Christmas and New Year celebration.
The FCT Security Committee headed by the Commissioner of Police, Mallam Sadiq Bello, ended its emergency security review recently with an appeal to residents to take seriously the issues of security in their neighbourhoods, work and worship places.
The security emergency was convened by the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, against the backdrop of travel alerts issued by some foreign diplomatic institutions to their citizens about Abuja.
The Minister subsequently assured residents that the police and other security agencies have been placed on heightened alert to combat crime and ensure effective surveillance in the Territory.
The Minister also reiterated that the ban on the use of fireworks in the territory is still in force and cautioned against the use of fireworks this season.
The Committee called on churches and mosques to galvanise their faithful for increased security alert. Residents have also been requested to be conscious of their environment and to report suspicious movements within their neighbourhoods to law enforcement agents.
The Committee, the Minister said, expressed concern over reports of increase in the use of drugs around the territory and called on community and religious leaders as well as the public to be very watchful over the traffic and use of illicit drugs around them and to report such to the security agencies.
By Idu Jude Abuja
