FCTA Secures Approval for State-of-the-Art Digital Tracking Equipment Procurement

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, affirmed his dedication to acquiring emergency security tools, to enhance the operational capabilities of security agencies in Abuja.

During a Monday media interface, Mr Wike announced that he has obtained approval from President Bola Tinubu for the emergency procurement of cutting-edge digital tracking equipment.

“With the approval of Mr. President, we’ve identified the specific needs of our security agencies and will now provide them with the necessary tools to enhance their capabilities,” he said. 

He highlighted that crucial intelligence extracted from these informants led to the arrest of criminals paraded by the police over the weekend.

Challenges faced by security agencies
The minister explained that security agencies lack adequate digital technology to track criminal elements within the city. 

He noted that the previous FCT administration prolonged the supply of motorcycles requested by the Nigeria Police Force, hindering their ability to access locations inaccessible to vehicles, such as remote and mountainous areas. 

While serving as the Governor of Rivers State, he ensured the sufficient provision of tracking devices, contributing to a reduction in crime rates within the state.

“So many facilities were not provided. Vehicles for the security agencies are not there. You cannot believe it -that equipment to track criminals is not there. When anything happens, they go back to the Office of the National Security Adviser or the Force Headquarters. That is not the way it is supposed to be.”

“When I was the Governor of Rivers State, the DSS told me they wanted a particular equipment. We were the only state that had it then. Sometimes the headquarters asked for its use.”

“That is a special equipment they needed and that equipment, we know how expensive it is but we had it and that was able to help us reduce the level of crime,” Wike stated.

“It was able to track the specific phones, not one that would say for example the criminals are around the city here. With that equipment, it was specific. It can track a particular phone to the exact spot or room,” he said. 

FCTA sets to establish Joint Taskforce

Mr Wike announced plans to establish a Joint Task Force with a comprehensive command and control structure, ready to respond promptly to security emergencies.

He pledged to utilize all available resources, despite the associated costs and time constraints, to address and fill the existing security gaps.

“Security is not just this equipment. You also have to motivate the personnel. I don’t want to talk about the strategies because we are talking security now.”

“Assuming Mr. President did not approve this emergency procurement, we had been to the Bureau for Public Procurement since December to allow us to procure under emergency. If you don’t and you have to go through the whole of the processes, it can take you two months and that is not what you tell members of the public, that procurement process is a problem,” the Minister stressed.

“The basic thing is having identified all these and the security agencies have told us this is what they require, we have to do the needful. We have even gone further to ask the state director of DSS about what they would need to tackle this menace. What kind of equipment do you want? Not that if anything happens, you have to run to your headquarters to seek assistance.”

“Before you go to your headquarters, something else would have happened. But if you have this equipment, you don’t need to seek approval from your headquarters to begin to seek equipment to track the criminals.”

“The next thing is to set up a joint security outfit here where they have their structure and equipment so that if anything happens the task force will know it is their function to move in. Yes it will cost us some funds and it will take us some time but what is important is that we have identified that this is a lacuna that we have to cover.”

“The efforts of our security agencies have yielded the arrests of informants who have told us what they were planning and you should have known too that we have also taken steps but we won’t belabour that. All we can assure you is that you don’t need to panic. Everything is being done to ensure the protection of lives and property,” he added. 

Mr Wike assured the public that collaborative efforts with security agencies, arrests of informants, and proactive measures are actively underway to safeguard lives and property, urging citizens not to succumb to panic.