By Stanley Onyekwere
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has completed the modern Divisional Police Headquarters and residential staff quarters in Ushafa and Saburi, Bwari and Abuja Municipal Area Councils respectively.
Director of the Security Services Department, FCTA, Mr Adamu Gwary, described the development as a major step toward curbing crime across Abuja’s satellite towns.
Gwary told journalists during a visit to the sites on Wednesday, that the Ushafa and Saburi projects were 100 per cent completed and ready for official handover.
He added that 10 others across other areas councils were more than 90 per cent completed.
He explained that the Ushafa and Saburi facilities were among the 12 Divisional Police Headquarters, two per area council, being constructed across the territory to eliminate security blind spots.
“Out of the 10 ongoing projects, almost all have achieved more than 90 per cent completion, following Wike’s directive for all contractors to wrap up work before the end of November,” he said.
According to him, the strategic projects were part of a broader security initiative ordered by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike to take crime-fighting infrastructure directly to the doorsteps of residents in fringe and rural communities.
He explained that the newly constructed Divisional Headquarters features a fully equipped ground floor housing a central counter, detention facilities, and separate cells for male and female suspects.
He added that the upper floor contains eight fully furnished administrative offices, including an executive office for the Divisional Police Officer (DPO).
He said that to ensure adequate personnel presence and rapid response times, the complex includes a three-storey residential block comprising six fully furnished two-bedroom ensuite flats, complete with dining areas, kitchens, stores, and sitting rooms for officers.
Gwary added that a technical team from the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) Public Building Department would join the contractor to verify all specifications against the Bill of Quantities before the official handover is finalised.
He recalled that during the peak of security challenges in 2023, Wike conducted town hall meetings across six area councils and promised residents that security infrastructure would be decentralised away from the city center.
He said that the Ushafa station and another located at Igbu, 35 kilometers away, near the FCT-Nasarawa border, would secure satellite communities while fortifying the territory’s external borders against cross-border criminality and kidnapping rings.
“With the November deadline approaching, FCTA is confident that the new police infrastructure will allow residents across satellite communities to carry out daily activities free from the fear of harassment or crime,” he said.
Reflecting on the progress made since 2023, Gwary noted a measurable reduction in reported kidnappings and heinous crimes across the FCT.
He attributed this drop to a combination of enhanced equipment, expanding physical infrastructure, and strict enforcement against internal collaborators.
Reiterating the minister’s firm stance, Gwary reminded residents that informants supplying information to kidnappers and hoodlums would face the same severe legal consequences as the criminals themselves.
“The minister did not mince his words in terms of issuing a stern warning to those informants that they will be treated like kidnappers,” Gwary cautioned.
He urged residents to continue providing timely and accurate intelligence to security agencies whenever suspicious activities occur.
The director said that beyond physical structures, the FCTA is aggressively expanding its monthly logistics support to security agencies and tech-driven surveillance capabilities.
He disclosed that the Airport-to-Villa corridor is currently being monitored via advanced technology managed from the Force Headquarters control room.
He added that tech-surveillance networks would soon be expanded beyond presidential routes to cover key high-risk corridors.
“Aerial surveillance assets are being finalised for deployment to track criminal elements in rugged terrains,” he said.
The Site Engineer for Ushafa project, Mr Kabir Muhammed, thanked Wike for trusting his firm with the project, assuring that the team worked closely with project monitoring and evaluation teams to deliver the facility within schedule.
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