FCTA wants barricades around police formations removed

Muhammad Bello, minister of the FCT has called for the removal of all road barricades mounted by Nigeria Police Force around some of its formations on major roads across the nation’s capital city.

Bello gave the directive during an interactive session with Salisu Fagge, an Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 7, comprising of FCT, Niger and Kaduna States, saying barricades were a factor in traffic congestion across Abuja metropolis.

According to Bello, other members of the security community in the FCT have since removed or reduced their road barricades, hence the need for the police force to follow suit.

Bello urged the Police and other security agencies in the Territory to take the knotty issue of traffic indiscipline more seriously; stressing that Abuja must remain the pacesetter in the country since it is the only city that is a product of law in Nigeria.

He urged the police high command to direct the Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) to as a matter of priority stop the activities of commercial motorcyclists and scavengers in their areas of jurisdictions; in addition to restricting the movement of tricycles to the estates.

The minister said that this responsibility should not be left to the task force alone, as it is equally the primary responsibility of the police to fight crime in whatever form.
“One of my greatest concerns in running the city is traffic indiscipline by motorists, the use of motorcycles (Okada) within the city and the use of the tricycle popularly called Keke Napep in unapproved areas.
“My appeal to you is to direct all your DPOs, since every area is under somebody. Direct them that motorcycles and Keke Napep are not allowed within so and so areas of Abuja. We also have these scavengers. They are not allowed by our laws,” he stressed.

Bello also directed the security agents to closely monitor activities in uncompleted buildings to ensure that only the security guard employed by the owner is staying in such places.

While asking the police to encourage community policing in the territory, the minister noted that monitoring of uncompleted buildings would go a long way to assist in always nipping in the bud any criminal activity at its embryo stage.

Bello also stressed the need for deployment of more police personnel
to the FCT to ensure that Abuja, being the window in which the world sees Nigeria, is better policed.

“People move into Abuja on a daily basis and some hardly go back, therefore we need more police personnel to man the city,” he said.
Fagge, however, assured that the police would be proactive in their approach to the policing of the citizenry.

KEHINDE AKINTOLA