Following security reports that fleeing bandits were making forays into the fringes of the territory, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) said plans were underway to hire local vigilante groups. to ensure safety in the schools of the territory.
FCTA Security Services Department Administration and Finance Director Dr Abdul-lateef Bello, who revealed this during a press briefing in Abuja, said the homeland security architecture was overloaded.
He said the measures were temporary until a security master plan was soon developed by the FCTA.
He said: “Plans have been made by the administration to hire self-defense services to provide security in the various public schools in the territory.
“We are talking about short-term measures when we have said that we are helping public schools to facilitate the purchase of vigilantes to complement the efforts of mainstream security agencies. Remember that some of the vigilantes are also part of the neighborhoods.
“They came from the neighborhoods where these schools are located. So they know better. It is a way of establishing a relationship between the community and the government. When vigilantes see something that is beyond them, they connect with mainstream security agencies to help them.
“Let’s compare security management to a football game. In a football match, no one will ask the keeper how many goals have been saved, but what we want to know is how many goals have been scored. I can tell you that for 15 or 20 crimes or criminals arrested, rest assured that around 50 or 60 situations would have been saved or avoided, ”he said.
According to Bello, this is why they always ask FCT residents to be patient with the government, to listen and to provide support and information when needed, as security guards or security agencies are not spirits.
“They are human organizations, they need business, they need our information to be successful. Whether or not we find it difficult to contain kidnapping incidents in the FCT, you will understand that kidnapping is not prevalent only in the FCT, ”he said.
