Insecurity: FCTA Allays Fears Amidst Terrorist Attack Threats In Abuja

Nigerian citizens including government officials, diplomats have been admonished by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) not to panic over reports of possible terrorist attacks in the city, assuring that security agencies are working assiduously to sustain the state of law and order in the nation’s capital.

The advisory, Naija News understands, was issued yesterday in Abuja by the Director of Information and Communication, FCT, Malam Muhammad Sule.

Quoting FCTA Minister, Muhammad Bello, Sule said security agencies have been charged to deploy all their mechanism to protect the lives and properties of residents of the city and its environs.

“As part of proactive measures, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Malam Muhammad Bello, convened an emergency security meeting where issues concerning the security alert given by some embassies in Abuja, to their citizens were exhaustively discussed and measures taken to sustain the current state of security and prevent any breach.

”The minister during the meeting, charged the security agencies to do all within their powers to protect FCT residents from being harmed by criminals and other unscrupulous elements,” Sule noted in the statement.

The official, however, clarified that the FCTA has not authorized the closure of any school, stating categorically that all schools currently closed should reopen immediately.

Sule said that the FCT Minister restated his advice to residents to cooperate at all times with the security agencies by volunteering useful and timely information that would assist in nipping any form of criminality in the bud.

He also urged residents and visitors to the territory to go about their legitimate businesses as all the security agencies have been fully mobilised to checkmate any form of intrusion into the FCT.

Naija News reports that the security beef-up in Abuja became necessary following a warning by the United States of America about the possibility of a terrorist attack in Abuja.

The advisory was issued in a statement on Sunday by the US Embassy in Abuja. As a result of the development, the Embassy announced that it would offer reduced services until further notice and urged American citizens to avoid non-essential movements.

The statement added that possible targets by the terrorists may include government buildings, places of worship, schools, markets, shopping malls, hotels, bars, restaurants, athletic gatherings, transport terminals, law enforcement facilities, and international organizations.