Inspector-General Usman Baba has reassured Nigerians that security operatives would forestall attacks in the Federal Capital Territory.
Seeking to douse heightened tensions over the recent activities of armed bandits and Boko Haram insurgents in the FCT, Mr Baba released a statement on Tuesday that police have adopted new security measures and collaborated with other security agencies on intelligence-gathering to prevent new attacks by the criminal elements.
“We are not leaving any stone unturned to fortify the Federal Capital Territory and its environs. The IGP has ordered for additional deployment of assets to Strategic areas of the FCT while the Force Intelligence Bureau has been charged on robust Intelligence gathering and information sharing amongst other agencies,” reads the IG’s statement released by police spokesperson Muyiwa Adejobi.
“All residents of the FCT are urged to synergise and be on the same page with the Police and other security agencies in making sure that we forestall any ugly incidences in and around the FCT,” the statement added.
Following the attack on Kuje prison, where 64 Boko Haram terrorists were freed, including Khalid al-Barnawi, who masterminded the 2011 bombing of UN Headquarters in Abuja, there have been new fears that the criminal sect was regrouping to bleed the nation.
The fears were validated after a leaked memo by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) warned that the released terrorists from the Kuje jailbreak were hibernating in targeted FCT communities and re-strategising for further attacks based on “certified intelligence.”
On Monday, the Federal Ministry of Education directed the closure of all Federal Government Colleges (FGCs) following security threats on the unity colleges.
Three elite security officers of the Presidential Guards Brigade had died in a health facility after they were ambushed by Boko Haram terrorists Sunday evening.
The terrorists had reportedly written the Nigerian Law School in Abuja threatening to attack the institution.
In an apparent audacious move, the insurgents, in a video that showed them flogging kidnapped passengers of the March 28 Kaduna-Abuja train ride, threatened to abduct and kill President Muhammadu Buhari and Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai if they failed to meet their conditions.
Despite the mounting security threats, Mr Buhari flew to Liberia on Tuesday in a show of solidarity to celebrate the nation’s independence as a special guest of honour.
