Yuletide: FCTA operation sweep combs motor parks to flush out criminals
Kola Oyelere Kano
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on Monday intensified security operations across motor parks and other strategic locations in the nation’s capital as part of measures to ensure a safe and peaceful yuletide season.
The operation was carried out by Operation Sweep, a special security task force of the FCTA, which combed major motor parks and identified hotspots within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to flush out criminal elements.
Speaking to journalists after the exercise in Abuja, the Director of the Security Services Department, FCTA, Mr. Adamu Gwary, said the operation was aimed at guaranteeing the safety of residents during the festive period.
Gwary, who was represented by the Secretary of the Command and Control Centre, Dr. Peter Olumuji, explained that the exercise would be sustained throughout the yuletide and beyond.
He disclosed that the FCT Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike, had issued a marching order to security agencies under Operation Sweep to rid the territory of all forms of criminality.
According to him, the operation has recorded significant success, particularly through continuous monitoring of motor parks and the dismantling of illegal parks being used by “one chance” criminals to abduct unsuspecting members of the public.
“Any place harbouring criminal elements, including shanties, is being destroyed. We want to tell all miscreants and criminal elements in the FCT that the territory will be too hot for them to operate,” Olumuji said.
He added that several arrests had been made, numerous shanties dismantled, and criminal elements posing as taxi drivers dislodged during the exercise.
The director noted that security personnel had also been deployed to suspected blackspots across the city to provide tight security during the festive season, stressing that the ultimate goal was to protect lives and property of all FCT residents.
He further called on operators of motor parks and event centres to ensure that individuals without clear means of identification, particularly motorists, are not allowed to operate within their facilities.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Jabi Motor Park, Abuja,
Mr. Adamu Abubakar, commended the task force for its efforts, saying the operation was helping to rid the city of “one chance” operators and sanitize the activities of transport workers in the FCT.