Neighbouring states’ traders, beggars responsible for FCT insecurity – Minister

The Federal Capital Territory Minister, Muhammad Bello, has accused traders and beggars from neighbouring states of being behind the security breaches witnessed in the territory.

This is as the FCT Security Committee, chaired by the Minister, said it would  work with the various communities to build a viable vigilante network in the rural communities, especially those prone to incidences of kidnapping, banditry, and terrorism, among others.

Represented at the meeting by the FCT Minister of State, Dr Ramotu Tijani-Aliyu, the minister also said the committee had concluded plans to launch the resuscitated G-7 Security Joint Operation in September 2022, involving states that are contagious to the FCT.

The G-7 Joint Security Operation is expected to fight crime in all the nooks and crannies of the member-states, especially the rising cases of kidnapping, banditry, and terrorism in the rural areas of the FCT and states bordering the FCT.

These were contained in a statement by Director, Information & Communication, the FCT, Muhammad Sule, on Friday.

The statement partly read, “The Security Agencies in the FCT have up their game. People who have no business being here, are being sent away.

“Some of them come under different guises such as begging, street trading, among others. They usually come from neighbouring states and are causing security breaches here. That is why we have decided to send them out.”

The FCT Police Commissioner, Sunday Babaji, said the G-7 Joint Security Operation that was being revived had received the support of sister security agencies as well as the Commissioners of Police in the member-states, who had all agreed on the need to collectively flush-out these criminals.

He revealed that the security agencies have gathered useful and actionable intelligence and would soon go after all criminals within its jurisdiction.