Minister of the FCT, Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike has presented 100 motorcycles to security outfits and the Six Area Councils in the FCT to help in the fight against crime in the nation’s capital.
The FCT Minister made the presentation in Abuja on Monday, April 15, 2024, during a brief ceremony attended by the Area Council Chairmen and Heads of the Security Agencies.
Giving a breakdown of how the motorcycles will be distributed, the Minister said each of the six Area Councils will get 10 motorcycles, which they will issue to their vigilante outfits, while the police will get 30.
He added that the Department of State Security (DSS) and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) will get 5 motorcycles each.
Wike expressed confidence that the motorcycles will help to further improve the security situation in the nation’s capital and urged the beneficiaries to ensure that they are used to fight crime strictly in the rural areas.
He said the rural parts of the FCT were more vulnerable to crime due to their remote and difficult terrains and urged the security agencies to give them the needed protection.
He also urged the Area Council Chairmen to ensure that the motorcycles are given to the vigilante outfits in their various Councils, assuring that the FCT Administration will provide logistics for those using the motorcycles.
He said, “I don’t want to hear stories tomorrow that these motorcycles are nowhere to be found again. I don’t want to hear such stories because sometimes when you give out vehicles before you know it, the vehicles are no longer there. Please utilize these motorcycles to fight crime in the areas you have identified.
“So, I urge you to use it well and take it not for commercial purposes. I don’t want to see the motorcycles in the city here. It should be used in the rural areas.
“So, please let it be taken to the rural areas. All the security outposts, you give it to them so that we don’t continue to hear excuses that the terrain is so bad, they require this and that”.
The FCT Minister who also pledged continued support of the FCT Administration to the FCT Area Councils, further disclosed that patrol vehicles would also be ready for presentation to the security agencies in the next couple of weeks, to aid the fight against crime and criminalities.
He said, “Now that you have been given, this may not be enough and we will continue to provide more. For vehicles, we believe by the next two weeks, the vehicles would have been ready to give out to security agencies too.”