Babatunji Wusu –
Ireti Kingibe, a senator in the National Assembly who represents the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), stated that she was not shocked by the high degree of insecurity in Abuja.
Kingibe claimed that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) dismissed her earlier warning about security concerns, telling her that the problems were overblown.
Kingibe revealed in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics that she attempted to alert security personnel of the vulnerability but was met with disdain.
She said: “I remember a few months ago, I drew the attention of the minister (Nyesom Wike) – when he came for appropriation – to the fact that security is a priority. And I have been saying that for a long time. It started off with the people in Mpape being unable to sleep.
“Some months back, the girl that was thrown out of a taxi from one chance eventually died. All these things I drew his attention to, but nothing was done until it got to the point where we are now.
“And I must commend the security agencies for doing something when we started to scream. But the truth is, a little bit earlier, I tried to draw their attention, and I was told that it was exaggerated. I said it couldn’t be because of what I was telling them I did not get from social media. I got it from my constituents. But I’m glad that everybody, we are now all seems to be on the same page.
“They’re trying to take it all seriously, but a lot more needs to be done. Catching the kidnappers is just the symptom. We need to get to the root cause of what is causing all of this insecurity.”
The member from the Labour Party (LP) also applauded the police for apprehending the kidnappers who were upsetting the calm in the nation’s capital and releasing their hostages.
Kingibe urged the government to address the underlying source of all the instability, claiming that apprehending the kidnappers is only a symptom.