The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) senator, Senator Ireti Kingibe, has expressed dismay about the deteriorating security conditions in Abuja, the country’s capital.
As the representative of the people of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Kingibe expressed her disapproval of the ease and frequency with which criminals kidnap and murder innocent Nigerians in the nation’s capital, citing Nabiha Al-Kadriya’s death as a 400 Level Biological Sciences student at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, at the hands of kidnappers as well as the nation’s embarrassment.
On January 2, 2024, Nabiha, her father, Mr. Mansoor Al-Kadriya, and her five sisters were abducted at Zuma town in Bwari, Abuja. In order for her father to raise the N60 million that the kidnappers sought, their captors liberated him. But a few days ago, Nabiha, Mr. Al-Kadriya’s second daughter, was murdered by her captors, and the amount demanded in ransom rose to N100 million.
In a statement released on her behalf, Kingibe’s Senior Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Nana Kazaure, stated that the killing of Nabiha and numerous other people in comparable circumstances is an embarrassment to the country and a slight to the government, whose main duty is to protect people and their property.
“The death of Nabiha and others who have died at the hands of kidnappers, bandits, and other criminal elements, offends our most basic values of decency. It questions the raison d’etre of government. At the very minimum, the government must protect its citizens and ensure an atmosphere conducive for them to enjoy the fundamental freedoms guaranteed to them by the Nigerian constitution. It is unfortunate to note that in this regard, FCT residents and indeed, millions of other Nigerians who live in perennial fear for their safety, are being denied these constitutionally guaranteed rights.
“The reality we face today is that residents of the FCT, who by virtue of their residing within the seat of power, and who by this fact should naturally be the envy of other Nigerians by enjoying the extra security their proximity to power should provide, have become most harassed and traumatized by the near unfettered reign of terror imposed on their communities by criminals. It is as if our security agencies have gone to sleep. It surely beggars’ belief that this should be happening in the Federal Capital and is unacceptable to me and Nigerians in general.
“Nigerians will recall that in my New Year message, I noted that a key area of priority for me is the safety of residents of the FCT. I restate that position here and insist that our security operatives pull their socks up and check the rising spate of criminal activities, which have cast a pall of gloom, fear, and anxiety over the lives of residents of the FCT”, Senator Kingibe said.
She reiterated that as a legislator she will continue to press for more sophisticated and creative policing of Abuja to checkmate the activities of criminal elements who have in recent times become emboldened in the conduct of their nefarious activities.
Commiserating with Mr Al-Kadriya on the murder of Nabiha, she called on security operatives to work diligently and speedily to free his daughters and others currently in captivity and urged the Federal Government to do so as a matter of priority and declare an emergency on the security sector to enable the government to put a handle on the growing level of insecurity around the country.
“We need to treat the security situation in the country as an emergency that requires immediate and drastic action by individuals at the highest level of government. I am calling for concerted and coordinated action by officials in the three arms of government. There must be a synergy of efforts to tackle this rampaging monster of insecurity “, Kingibe said.
