… As Area Councils Get Additional Divisional Police Stations
By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
The FCT Minister Barr. Nyesom Wike is set to kick out criminals from the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, by taking policing close to the grassroots communities.
Acting on the order of the FCT Minister, the FCT administration began construction of two additional divisional police stations at the six area councils.
It would be recalled that the FCT Minister, Barr. Nyesom Wike had promised to decentralize policing by siting two additional divisional police commands, each in communities, to ensure safety at the grassroots, especially by curbing infiltration of criminals from border towns.
This initiative is coming after a prevalence of insecurity incidents bedeviling different communities in Abaji, Kwali, and Bwari between late 2023 and early 2024, with incidents of repeated abductions, bandit incursions, and activities of kidnappers.
During his monitoring activities, the FCT minister
had ordered the immediate provision of two additional divisional police stations across the six area councils.
During a visit to some new divisional police stations at Tukashare and Saburi, both in AMAC; Bako in Kwali; Yaba in Abaji; Giri in Gwagwalada; and Ushafa in Bwari Area councils, significant progress in the ongoing construction was revealed.
At Saburi, in Abuja Municipal Area Council, the project is nearing completion with visible finishing works going on at the station block and adjoining residential quarters.
Daybreak observed that work is progressing at the complex which consists of a main administrative building with offices for the divisional police officer, his secretary, and other ranks, as well as two holding cells equipped with in-built toilets and bathrooms.Furthermore, the residential block, designed for officers’ accommodation, comprises six two-bedroom flats, each with a kitchen, dining room, and three toilets, to ensure comfort for the officers to carry out their duties effectively and to respond swiftly to emergencies.
Project engineer Ahmed Yahaya told journalists that the site was in its final phase. “We have completed the electrical and plumbing work, and we’re currently on the finishing fittings. By tomorrow, we’ll commence industrial cleaning, and in two days’ time, we should begin painting.”
Also at the Yaba Divisional Police Station, located in a border community that shares boundaries with Niger State, site engineer Engr. Ayinde Adewale assured that the project will be completed in real time.
He said, “With the level of funding support we’re getting from the FCT Administration, we have no doubt about meeting the November deadline.”
He noted that the strategic location of Yaba, a major transit point for travelers heading toward Niger and Kogi States, makes the establishment of a divisional police command there a major deterrent against criminal infiltration.
The Director of Security Services at the FCTA, Adamu Gwary, present at one of the project sites, told journalists that the projects were part of a comprehensive grassroots security plan initiated by the minister to extend policing to underserved areas.
He said, “When the Honorable Minister assumed office, he directed that all abandoned or underused town halls in the area councils should be converted into functional police stations.”
“The idea is to take policing closer to the people, especially in vulnerable and remote communities where response time is slow.”
The concept, he said, “is to end the era where officers live far away from their posts. Now, there will always be personnel on the ground to respond to emergencies at any hour.”
Some residents in the benefiting communities expressed optimism that the new facilities will improve safety and restore confidence.
In Yaba, a farmer, Musa Yakubu, said the presence of a police division would encourage more economic activity. “People will now come in freely to buy and sell farm produce because they know security is improving,” he said.
A petty trader, Ibrahim Danladi, also added that the fear that kept many from staying out late is gradually easing. “Now we can begin to feel safer again,” he said.
Gwary stated that each of the new divisional police stations follows a national prototype recently approved by the Inspector General of Police.
According to him, the design was introduced at the request of the FCT Minister, who sought to ensure that new stations meet uniform standards of functionality and comfort for operational officers.
He added that the new structures will serve as prototypes for future police divisions in the territory and across the country. “If you go to the Police Resource Centre, you will find the same standard being replicated.”
“What we have done is align the FCT projects with this national standard so that both the physical environment and manpower deployment can support efficient policing”, he explained.
