Yuletide: Police, FRSC Step Up Security, Safety Preparations

The Nigeria Police Force has deployed its personnel to every nook and cranny in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, as the yuletide season approaches.

Spokesperson of FCT Police Command, SP Josephine Adeh, in a statement, said the deployment is characterised by visibility policing at various places of worship and event centres.

Adeh stated that the deployment, which includes raids on identified black spots, uncompleted buildings/shanties, stop and search, vehicular/foot patrol and inter-agency cooperation, is aimed at ensuring that the residents of the FCT enjoy a hitch-free festivity before, and during and after the Christmas celebration.

She said the commissioner of police FCT, CP Haruna Garba, had ordered the deployment of human and material resources at the command’s disposal across the FCT to guarantee peace before, during and after Christmas and New Year celebrations in the territory.

Garba also felicitated with the Christian faithful in the territory and enjoined residents to desist from using knockouts, fireworks/firecrackers which may cause panic or apprehension.

He also urged the residents of FCT to be vigilant and suspicious of their environment.
In another development, the Police also said it had arrested Gabriel Abba, Sunday Abba and Abdulkareem Jaffaru, allegedly linked to a spate of armed robberies, car snatchings, and one-chance activities within the FCT.

The arrests followed a proactive response to actionable intelligence by officers and men of the command.
In Kano State, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Kano state Command has cautioned motorists to drive at a safe speed that could enable them manoeuvre when there is any danger on their way.

The spokesperson of the Kano Command, Abdullahi Labaran, in an interview with LEADERSHIP, said the call was necessitated by increased vehicular movement which usually happens during the end of the year leading to increase in road crashes.

According to Labaran, road crashes can be avoidable or reduced to a minimal level when motorists obey traffic rules and regulations.

He said it is part of the corps custom to increase its effort, especially in areas of sensitising the public, and carrying out enforcement through mobile courts so that reckless drivers can be checked to ensure the road is safe for everybody.

“We are doing a lot, we started the campaign in October, which is the ember months’ campaign where we sensitized the public and motorists on the importance of taking safety measures so that accidents can be minimised.

“The prevalent cause of road crashes is over speeding, especially by the commercial drivers. We always make sure that those commercial vehicles install their speed limit devices so that they can drive within the speed limit.

“We do go to motor parks on a weekly basis to sensitise the drivers and still go further by doing radio programmes to enlighten the public on the need to drive safely and make sure they obey all traffic rules and regulations,” he stressed.

While discouraging underage driving and encouraging up to date vehicle documents and licences to avoid unnecessary delay on the way, the spokesperson further called on motorists to drive with care because people put their lives and property on their hands.

“We don’t want to witness an increase but rather a drastic reduction in road crashes and fatalities,” he said.