By Sarah NEGEDU
The Federal Capital Territory has ordered massive security deployments to mosques and churches across Abuja to forestall attacks on worship centres and reinforce public safety.
The decision which was reached at the end of an expanded security committee meeting chaired by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, is part of renewed measures to tighten security following rising concerns about banditry and kidnappings in parts of the country.
Briefing journalists after the meeting, the Commissioner of Police, CP Miller Dantawaye, told residents to expect increased patrols, stronger intelligence gathering and a more visible security presence around major worship centres in Abuja.
Heavy deployments have also been activated for Friday and Sunday worship. “We have deployed massively, even for church and mosque operations, functions, we have deployed adequately. So our Christian brothers, our Muslim brothers should go about carrying out their religious functions, because on Fridays we are going to secure almost all, if not all, the mosques. And on Sundays we will do the same for the churches,” he stated.
The Commissioner disclosed that the FCT Administration also approved the relaunch of Operation Sweep, a coordinated crackdown reorganised into four sectors covering Gwagwalada, Bwari, and two divisions within the city centre stretching to Karu, Mararaba, Karshi and Orozo.
He said the operation is backed by fresh logistics and is aimed at stopping crime before it comes close to the territory.
According to him, “The essence is to ensure that crime doesn’t come close to FCT. Like I said, we have experienced kidnaps of school students here and there within the country. We have experienced raiding of religious institutions, and we feel that that cannot happen.”
Dantawaye disclosed that two alleged ‘bandit attacks’ reported on Tuesday at Veritas University and another at Government Secondary School, Tunga Maji were later confirmed to be false alarms.
He said security teams responded within minutes and found no threat at either location.
“Just yesterday, we had two cases where, in a university around town, people thought they saw criminals. When we got there, we discovered that no bandit attack was even attempted at all at those locations. And then in another school, around secondary school, children went to eat themselves, and they saw farmers.
“Within five minutes, security agencies responded, and we had a very robust interface with the students and the school. So the two cases we had yesterday, both in Veritas University and Government Secondary School around Tunga Maji, happened to have been false alarm.”
He added that schools across the territory are now under heightened surveillance, with profiling, patrols and intelligence sharing underway.
“Like I said, we have experienced kidnaps of school students here and there within the country. We have experienced raiding of religious institutions, and we feel that that cannot happen. So we have activated, through this operation, serious and very robust interaction with schools, gathering as much intelligence as we can get.
“And we have also tried our best to patrol, and we have commenced in earnest the deployment of heavy logistics around the locations, especially around the fringes, where it is most likely that anyone that wants to perpetrate that level of crime will want to attempt. So schools are being patrolled, schools are being profiled, and schools are being well secured. We’re building confidence in them.”
The CP said Operation Sweep will further target one-chance syndicates and criminal dispatch riders, noting that “about four syndicates of One Chance have been apprehended” and several suspected rogue dispatch riders are already in custody.
He added that security agencies will support the FCTA in clearing illegal shanties once the legal approvals are in place, stressing that such structures often harbour criminal elements.
Dantawaye appealed to residents to avoid creating panic with unverified reports and instead share credible intelligence with authorities.
“Please, when you hear anything about kidnapping anywhere, let’s try to verify, check those information before we create unnecessary pandemonium or confusion around the city,” he said.
