By Sarah NEGEDU
The Federal Capital Territory Administration has pledged tighter security across Abuja in the new year, with officials assuring residents that the ongoing operations against criminal gangs will be intensified throughout 2026.
The Director of the Security Services Department, Adamu Gwary, gave the commitment during visits to churches and strategic locations across the city during crossover night.
The Director who was represented by the Secretary, Command and Control, Dr. Peter Olumuji, said the FCTA’s Operation Sweep Joint Task Force will deepen its offensive against bandits, one-chance syndicates, and other criminal groups troubling the capital.
He said, “All the security agencies have promised the Minister that they will sustain the gains recorded in the New Year.
“The focus is not only on the Yuletide season but all through 2026 and beyond. The FCT commissioner of police who is the team leader, will in due time tell the world about the achievements so far recorded.”
Across churches visited, residents used the crossover service to table fresh demands for the new year, ranging from housing and health infrastructure to sustained anti-kidnap operations.
At St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, Kubwa, the Vicar, Prof. Solomon Esomu, urged the government to make Abuja more livable for all income groups.
In his words, “Let FCT be a place where people can live, I know we have a lot of accommodations in the FCT, but many people cannot live in those places.
“So we need an FCT where people can live in any of the places they want. The accommodation should be in such a way that people can pay. If we can have a low housing scheme for the people, it will also be good.
“Whether you are poor or rich, you are average, we are all Nigerians. So we should also enjoy our country. If we have houses for the top rich people, we should also have houses for the middle people,” Esomu said.
Meanwhile, the Vice Chairman of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, FCT chapter, Maxwell Gbinije, commended ongoing reforms but called for more people-first interventions.
“FCT Administration should keep on the good work, but also consider the people that they are leading,” he said.
Gbinije, who is a pastor at The Redeemed Evangelical Mission, TREM, Utako, encouraged worshippers to trust in God for a better 2026 despite the country’s challenges.
At the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Assembly of Life Parish, Region 45, Kubwa, Pastor Mike Ayambode urged government to prioritise hospital upgrades.
“The hospitals should be better than it is now because you have situations where people are being rushed from one hospital to another and the stories that they tell them are the fact that they don’t have enough beds or enough bed space to receive them as a result of which many people died.
“So if there is anything that we need to do, it is to make sure that in all of our hospitals, and schools, we improve the infrastructure and make it more available for the citizens,” Ayambode said.
At ECWA Good News, PW Kubwa, Pastor Isaac Peter called for sustained action against kidnappers and one-chance gangs.
“There are challenges of insecurity here and there especially the one-chance disturbing people in the territory, the government should sustain the fight,” he said.
