Security Expert Bulama Bukarti says Abuja is becoming one of the scariest cities in the world with kidnapper, one-chance robbers and other criminals ubiquitous in Nigeria’s political capital wreaking havoc on innocent citizens.
“In major junctions in Abuja, criminals and armed robbers masquerading as taxi drivers maim and rob Nigerians in a way that we have not seen before,” Bukarti said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Monday.
“Abuja is becoming one of the scariest Federal Capital cities in the world.”
Outrage had trailed the abduction of six siblings and their father in the Bwari Area Council of Abuja on January 3, 2024. The kidnappers reportedly killed one of the sisters identified as Nabeehah after their parents couldn’t meet the deadline for payment of N60 million ransom.
Bukarti said what is going on in Abuja is a reflection of what has been happening across Nigeria.
“Over 9,700 people were killed last year in 2023 across Nigerians. Abuja cannot be immune to that because as long as you leave insecurity to fester and flourish across Nigeria, then, it will find its way to Abuja,” he said.
Bukarti further said intelligence had shown that violent terrorist groups from the North-East, North-West and North-Central geopolitical zones had moved into Abuja while some operate from border states such as Kogi, Kaduna, Niger and Nasarawa;
“Over 200 people were either killed or abducted in Abuja in the last three months of 2023,” the expert said, noting that the ugly trend will drive away investors and discourage diplomats from living in the nation’s capital while Nigeria’s security rating in the world will be badly affected.
Bukarti urged security agencies to take “sustained security action” in Abuja and in other parts of the country.
“The way to secure Abuja is to take the fight to the bandits and terrorists in other parts of the country,” he advised.