Police, DSS, NSCDC, Area Councils get 100 motorcycles to boost security in FCT rural areas

By Stanley Onyekwere

As of effort to boost the battle to tame insecurity especially within rural areas  in Abuja, the nation’s capital, a total of 100 motorcycles were yestetday distributed to security outfits and the six Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

A breakdown of how the motorcycles will be distributed shows that each of the six Area Councils will get 10 motorcycles totally 60, which will be issued to their respective vigilante outfits, while the police will get 30.

Also, the Department of State Security (DSS) and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) will get 5 motorcycles each.

The FCT Minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike made the presentation,  during a brief ceremony attended by the Area Council Chairmen and Heads of the Security Agencies.

Wike expressed confidence that the motorcycles will help to further improve the security situation in the nation’s capital and urged the beneficiaries to ensure that they are used to fight crime strictly in the rural areas.

He said the rural parts of the FCT were more vulnerable to criminalities due to their remote and difficult terrains, and urged the security agencies to give them the needed protection.

He also urged the Area Council Chairmen to ensure that the motorcycles are given to the vigilante outfits in their various Councils, assuring that the FCT Administration will provide logistics for those using the motorcycles.

“I don’t want to hear stories tomorrow that these motorcycles are nowhere to be found again.

“I don’t want to hear such stories, because sometimes when you give out vehicles before you know it, the vehicles are no longer there. Please utilize these motorcycles to fight crime in the areas you have identified.

“So, I urge you to use it well and take it not for commercial purposes. I don’t want to see the motorcycles in the city here. It should be used in the rural areas.

“ So, please let it be taken to the rural areas. All the security outposts, you give it to them so that we don’t continue to hear excuses that the terrain is so bad, they require this and that”, he stated.

While reiterating the continued support of the FCT Administration to the FCT Area Councils, the Minister disclosed that patrol vehicles would also be ready for presentation to the security agencies in the next couple of weeks, to aid the fight against crime and criminalities.

He adds: “Now that you have been given, this may not be enough and we will continue to provide more. For vehicles, we believe by the next two weeks, the vehicles would have been ready to give out to security agencies too.”

Wike explained that the gesture was in line with the promise to the residents of Abuja and the area councils, that security would be prioritised in President Bola Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope” agenda.

He assured Abuja residents that the FCTA would not relent until those who said, “we will not sleep, also do not sleep”.

In their response through the council’s chairmen, Mr. Christopher Maikalangu, Chairman, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), thanked the minister for the support and promised to put the motorcycles to good use.

Similarly, the Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, Ben Igweh, assured the FCTA that the motorcycles would be distributed to police posts in rural areas.

Not left out, the Commandant General, Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN), retired Navy Capt. Umar Bakori, noted that the motorcycles would certainly enhance security patrol in rural communities.