NEMA alerts public to possible terrorists’ infiltration of FCT

NEMA alerts Nigerians of possible terrorists’ infiltration of Abuja

WITH the increasing influx of internally displaced people from the North Eastern part of the country into the Federal Capital Territory, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has alerted on the possibility of the infiltration of insurgents into the capital city.

  The Zonal Coordinator of NEMA, Abuja Operations office, Ishaya Chonoko, who made the alert yesterday at the kick-off of “Operation Eagle Eye” at the Jabi Motor Park said there is a likelihood that the insurgents have mingled with the displaced people into the FCT.

According to him, the increasing bomb attacks in Kano metropolis was occasioned by the influx of IDPs into the town, hence the need to checkmate its re-occurrence in the FCT. “The IDPs are entering Kano unchecked and one cannot deviate from the fact that the insurgents might have used that advantage of the mass movement of the IDPs from the north east to Kano and probably now gained ground to perpetrate their terror act. Now, we are growing from that experience and that is what informed our coming here to educate, particularly like I said, this people do not use flight to travel to areas they go.

“They use commercial vehicles. So, we try to be proactive in trying to sensitize them to the fact that there could be possibility of the insurgents infiltrating the real IDPs. And you know by the time they gain ground again, if you allow that to happen unchecked, a lot of what is happening in Kano can happen here as well,” he warned.

  While sensitizing officials of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) on the need to beef up security at the motor park, Chonoko said: “We have influx of IDPs into the FCT by road and since they come into Abuja un-noticed, there is no way we can differentiate genuine IDPs from the insurgents, so there is need for the transport workers to increase security checks at the entrance to the parks.

  Chonoko, who commended security agencies in the FCT, called on them to intensify their effort in stop-and-search operations. He said NEMA, in conjunction with other stakeholders, is coming up with camps where IDPs can be kept and taken care of in order to guard against miscreants in their mix.
  “This is another way of checking the excesses of who is an IDP and who is not an IDP because if you have a camp, you will do what is called camp management and camp coordination to separate the good from the bad,” Chonoko added.

  Also speaking, the NEMA’s Head of Search and Rescue Operations in the Abuja Operations Office, Labaran Ahman, who sensitised the drivers to the basic emergency response tips, said the training became necessary as a result of the increasing terror attacks at motor-parks and the need for drivers to be educated on basic emergency management techniques in form of first aid to victims of road crashes or other forms of emergencies.