Massive Cordon in Abuja over Security Threat

•No cause for alarm, Says Brigade of Guards
Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

The Tuesday morning kidnap of a university don, his family and some staff of the University of Abuja by gunmen has triggered massive deployments of security assets and cordon around the nation’s capital.

There are also fears and tension in the capital city, following the likelihood of an impending invasion by terrorists.

The situation prompted the military to mount road blocks along Karu-Nyanya Road, forcing many civil servants to abandon their vehicles and report for work late while others were forced to return home.

There were also a flurry of security meetings, movements and deployments around the territory.
The tense situation comes as the National Center for the Control of Small and Light arms, raised the alarm that of the 10 million small arms and light weapons in West Africa, 70 percent were circulating in Nigeria.

However, at a media parley, the Commander, Guards Brigade, Brigadier-General MT Usman, assured residents that there was no cause for alarm, saying security forces were on top of the situation.

Brigade of Guards protects the president and his family and the Federal Capital Territory.
They have also been deployed in the heart of the city, Maitama and in the outskirts, notably, Keffi and Gwagwalada.

THISDAY gathered that military services and all the security agencies, alarmed by the daring kidnap incident at the University of Abuja, met at the Force Headquarters yesterday for about five hours to develop a response to the threat of invasion of the territory by armed non-state actors.

Road blocks, checkpoints and intelligence surveillance were also activated at the entry points to the capital city, notably, Nyanya-Karu axis, Gwagwalada, Zuba and Kubwa.

“The kidnapping at the University of Abuja means that the threat is getting close”, a security source told THISDAY, even as intelligence agencies had increased deployments with aerial surveillance activated.

Commander, Brigade of Guards, Brigadier-General MT Usman, said there was no cause for alarm and assured the people that security forces were on top of the situation.
Speaking at a media parley in Abuja, Usman said security forces were on the trail of the abductors of staff of the University of Abuja.

“There is no cause for alarm, we are on top of the situation. Abuja is safe by the grace of God. We have put a search and rescue operation in place”, he said.

Also, speaking at a two-day training workshop attended by 14 security agencies, the Coordinator of the National Center for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, Maj. Gen Abba Dikko (rtd), said the situation was a national emergency.

He said without ridding the nation of such illicit arms, solving the security situation in the country would be far-fetched.
“If we don’t recover arms from non-state actors, we are making a very big mistake. If we don’t remove small arms, it is possible that our security challenges will not abate,” he said.

In his presentation, Deputy Coordinator of the arms center, Brigadier-General EC Ekwesi, said the Small Arms Survey 2019 showed that 70 per cent of small arms in West Africa were circulating in Nigeria.

He said global death from small arms had exceeded all weapons systems and would end up as the next weapons of mass destruction, noting that Nigeria was ranked as the third most terrorised country in the world going by the 2020 Global Terrorism Index.