Cameras, drones should be deployed to tackle insecurity in Abuja, says rep

Chinedu Obika, a member of the house of representatives, has called for the deployment of drones and cameras to tackle insecurity in the federal capital territory (FCT).

Speaking with journalists on Thursday, Obika who represents AMAC/Bwari federal constituency, said there are “several situations of insecurity woes” in the nation’s capital which require urgent attention.

He said most of the insecurity cases often go unreported, leaving residents at the mercy of criminals.

Obika said some locations in Abuja, such as under the bridges, are “totally infested with criminals” who kill to dispossess owners of their personal belongings.

“Severally, we have received reports of people who are tracked and picked up just in front of their gates,” he said. 

“As if these were not enough, another dimension to the criminality has been introduced by hoodlums who mob passers-by upon choreographed fake alarms of missing genitals, and use the ensuing chaos to dispossess innocent victims of their phones and valuables.

“That Abuja is no longer safe is no more in doubt. Residents keep asking whether the security of Abuja is slipping through our fingers.

“There is an urgent demand for us to restore the hopes of both the citizens and investors in this our dream city.”

The lawmaker urged President Bola Tinubu to create a special security intervention fund for the overhaul of the FCT security architecture.

He said the FCT administration should develop a strategic initiative and deploy “smart technologies in the nooks and crannies of the city and satellite towns”.

“This is achievable through deploying CCTVs, drones, and other integrated electronic surveillance systems, among others,” he said. 

The lawmaker said more work should be done in intelligence gathering and “blind spots like surrounding bushes should be periodically raided, while uncompleted buildings should be adequately evacuated or policed”.

EDUCATION

The legislator said the educational system in the FCT, especially at the basic level, is in dire need of major intervention.

He claimed that most schools in rural FCT lack the enabling environment for learning, while others are short of qualified staff.

HEALTH

Obika said many communities in FCT have no health centres and where they exist, they are ill-equipped.

“The only district hospitals available in FCT were built by the military. In the more than 23 years of civilian administration, no district hospital has been built by the civilian authorities,” he said.

Obika asked Nyesom Wike, minister of the FCT, to address the challenges in the nation’s capital city, including putting in place a mass housing policy by engaging all stakeholders in a round table discourse to solve the housing deficit.