The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has threatened to shut down unlicensed vehicle parks in Abuja due to an increase in ‘one-chance’ robberies in the metropolis.
The Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, said this on Thursday during a press conference in his Abuja office.
For weeks, there have been reports of ‘one-chance’ robbery and kidnapping in Abuja, with some locals fearful of the operations of criminals who disguise themselves as commercial truck operators to attack and rob unsuspecting victims.
Asked on steps taken by the FCTA to guarantee the safety of lives and properties in the capital city, the minister said a joint task force on cross-border crimes was set up last week to tackle the security menace called ‘one-chance’ robbery.
The ex-governor of Rivers State also blamed the rising crime in the capital city on illegal motor parks and uncompleted buildings used as dens by criminals.
“We’re getting a lot of reports about kidnappings here, about one-chance there,” Wike said.
“In most cases we don’t even let the public to know what has been done. I can tell you the security agencies have done quite a lot. If not, by now, the FCT would have been a different thing.
“One of the areas we identified is that the FCT is at the centre – we have Niger State, we have Kogi State, we have Nasarawa State, we have Kaduna State. And if you check these four states, these four states are states that (experience) from time to time, banditry, kidnapping.
“And we discovered that most of the areas that they (criminals) stay are shanties and uncompleted buildings and that is why we say we cannot allow these uncompleted buildings where criminals have made their place of abode. Bring down all these uncompleted buildings which have turned to shanties and they will have nowhere to hide.”
Continuing, the minister said, “Just last week, we set up a task force on those states that we have borders with and one-chance. Joint security task force including the SSS, the police, the army, the navy, and they have identified the way they will operate.
“To tell you that we are concerned that is why we have to set up this joint task force for the one-chance and the border control.
“Again, you see a lot of illegal motor parks. When we come up with a policy that we can’t allow these illegal motor parks, people will come up to say the economy is hard, things are tough but nobody wants to look at it from the security implication.
“We are also planning to shut down some of these illegal motor parks.”