… as Gwagwa warns parents, youths against violence

The Secretary, Federal Capital Territory Area Councils Services, Barrister Yahaya Ibrahim Gwagwa, has warned parents in the nation’s capital to restrain their children from being used as political thugs or to perpetrate electoral violence during the forthcoming 2015 general elections.

Gwagwa, who gave the warning in Abuja at the flag off of the mobilisation and sensitisation of FCT residents towards community policing, noted that many of those who intend to use young men and women have sent their children overseas.

“We should therefore be alert to their schemes so that our children do not fall their victims” he said.

He however enjoined all stakeholders to join hands in the unfolding collaborative effort with the police to guarantee the security of lives and property in the FCT.

The Secretary specifically called for the support of the six area council chairmen, chiefs and religious leaders to amplify the message to their various subjects and followers,

According to him, the rationale behind the mobilisation and sensitisation campaign was to develop a people-police collaborative network for the harmonisation and coordination of security strategies.

“We also hope it will enhance the exchange of information and techniques for the organised tracking with the ultimate goal of curtailing their movement and operation within our communities” he said.

 Similarly, in her speech, Minister of State for FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, noted that it has become imperative to mobilize and sensitise the grassroots populace to adopt the practice of community policing which entails partnership with the police and other law enforcement agents towards ensuring peace and security in the various communities.

Represented by her Special Assistant on Agriculture, Rasaq Oyeleke, the minister stressed that law enforcement agencies rely on information, intelligence gathering and cooperation with the measures put in place to ensure safety and security in the communities.

 On his part, the FCT police commissioner, Wilson Inalegwu, who described the initiative as a welcome development, assured the stakeholders that the police was very committed to ensuring peace and security in the FCT.

He therefore urged all residents especially community leaders to join hands with the police and other security agencies to make FCT safe and secured even in the face of the lingering heightened security threat.

Not left out, the Ona of Abaji, Alh. Adamu Yunusa Baba, who is the chairman of the FCT Traditional Rulers Council, promised to follow up the sensitization programme with a meeting with village heads and other chiefs in all the chiefdoms in the FCT, so as to achieve the aim of the security initiative.