By Kingsley Omonobi
Security and law enforcement agencies on Thursday said the heavy deployment of personnel and erection of barricades across parts of Abuja were routine measures aimed at maintaining law and order and reassuring residents, diplomats and investors of safety in the Federal Capital Territory.
The agencies explained that the barricades mounted at strategic locations in the city centre in recent days, which have caused traffic disruptions for motorists and workers, were part of efforts to prevent any breakdown of order amid increasing protest activities in the capital.
Speaking at a joint media briefing by security and intelligence agencies, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Anietie Iniedu, said the deployment was not in response to any specific security threat and should not cause panic among residents.
“No, it is not due to any security threat and does not warrant any panic. It is a joint operation. There is no cause for alarm at the moment,” he said.
Iniedu noted that security agencies had observed an increase in protest activities within the city centre and were taking precautionary measures to maintain public order.
“We have noticed that there has been an upsurge of protests in the city centre, and we’re trying to maintain law and order, which is our basic and primary responsibility. The deployments are basically movements from one location to another to ensure that our city centre is safe,” he said.
He stressed that the heightened security presence was particularly important because Abuja serves as the nation’s capital and hosts diplomatic missions, government institutions and foreign investors.
“Remember, we’re in the capital, and there is a lot that has to be done to ensure confidence in those in the city centre and also for our foreign investors,” he added.
Iniedu further disclosed that the Nigeria Police Force had expanded its security approach from intelligence-led policing to what he described as “intelligence-led community collaborative policing.”
According to him, the strategy places greater emphasis on cooperation with local communities, including the use of handshake police patrols, in recognition of the fact that intelligence gathering alone is insufficient to address emerging security challenges.
“We’ve seen that intelligence alone won’t help us. We have gone far to create collaborative processes with our communities,” he said.
