FCTA Mulls Agro Ranger Stations in Three Area Councils to Curtail Banditry

FCTA Mulls Agro Ranger Stations in Three Area Councils to Curtail Banditry

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has proposed the establishment of three agro-Ranger base stations in Kuje, Bwari and Abaji Area Councils to curb banditry and other criminal activities in the forest areas as well as reduce the perennial clashes between farmers and herders.

The Director (Admin and Finance) Security Services of FCTA, Dr. Abdul-lateef Bello, disclosed this yesterday at a press briefing.

The Agro Ranger unit was midwifed in 2019 to train and carry out clearance operations to enable the farming communities access their farmlands.

“The establishment of Agro-Ranger base stations in some of the farming communities in the FCT is a new initiative that we are mulling. The idea is to help the farming communities return back to farm so that we can continue to enjoy affordable food and agricultural products like we used to enjoy in the FCT,” Bello said.

He added that several interventions were initiated to resolve the perennial clashes between herders and farmers in Dobi, Ibwa and Paikon-Kore communities of Gwagwalada Area Council, Paikon-Basa village of Abaji Area Council and other parts of the FCT.

He disclosed that the Fulani leaders held a meeting with the FCT Police Command Commissioner to tackle the issue of Ruga Settlement, where the Fulani leaders pledged their cooperation in ensuring effective profiling of the Ruga in the FCT for security reasons.

On security concern in FCT schools, Bello said the committee in its vulnerability assessment recommended to the FCTA to provide perimeter fencing for schools, introduce CCTV cameras and deploy conventional security agencies as a standing structure in most of the schools.

According to him, “It will take the government a lot of funding intervention to be able to provide perimeter fencing for all those schools, and I can assure you that the Minister of FCT, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, has enjoined the Education Secretariat that its budget should provide adequate funding for some of these schools in terms of provision of perimeter fencing and other basic security facilities.”

He also added that the FCT is responding to the menace of kidnapping by resuscitating the G-7 initiative, to help in carrying out simultaneous and joint raids to keep some of the bad elements out of the FCT.

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