By Our Reporter
The Federal Capital Territory Minister, Muhammed Bello has said that his administration has quietly bursted Boko Haram cells in the city without making noise about it.
The minister made the disclosure Thursday, when he was guest at the 40th Session of the State House Briefing, organised by Presidential Communication Team, in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The minister, who was assuring residents of the territory that security measures have been put in place to ensure their safety, added that security operatives have searched areas where the Boko Haram elements were camping.
Responding to a question on the hat the FCT was doing about the alarm raised by the governor of Nasarawa State Abdullahi Sule, a while ago r that terrorists have set up their cells in Abuja, the Minister described Abuja as the safest city.
He said, “About security, I want to tell you, the FCT is the most secure part of Nigeria today. Yes, we have insecurity here and there, it is a reality and it is a phenomenon that affects not just Nigeria but even our sub region. But what I do know is that the security agencies in the FCT are doing extremely well.
“ I will say it again for every incident that you read in the papers or you see on the social media or in the radio. I tell you 10 to 15 cases have been nipped in the bud but they are not out there in the public.
“For instance, we have through the security measures in busted several cells of Boko Haram within the FCT, searching areas where they were and the kind of businesses they are doing and how they were able to blend easily within the wider community is something that cannot divulge here.
“But I tell you, two days ago, a plan was hatched to kidnap two prominent people but because of modern technology now, because of the way the security agencies network among themselves, these plans were hatched. When the doctor was murdered in Games Village, there were a lot of issues as to all the insecurity…and it turned out that those that murdered him were those closest to him. Using technology everybody was nabbed at the time when the police were being bashed.
“We already had information one or two people already wired but we couldn’t divulge that to the general public because if you do so the others that were on the run will know. Eventually that thing was cracked and they were arrested and are undergoing all the normal processes.
“The poor lady, who was murdered in Maitama and her corpse burnt, who had a child, who was an NYSC member, it was all there in the press. But now it has been cracked. Those who did the murder have been arrested.
“Sometimes that’s why I say we need to own the city. We need to love the city. Each time a big headline comes like this, it resonates across the entire world and they see our beautiful city as being under siege.
“The first incident was on the front pages, and was breaking news on all the social platforms. But the explanation I gave you was also in the news, but hidden somewhere where you don’t see. So this is just my appeal to you.
“So having said that, I want to really tell you that yes, we have pockets of criminality here but for those of you who live in New York, go to the Bronx, Queens and for those of you who live in London go to the other areas. It’s everywhere. But if we all organize ourselves and love the city and fight for the city, these are all things we are going to fight for.”
