Aleke Aleke in Abuja
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has witnessed a concerning surge in insecurity, leaving residents feeling vulnerable and anxious.
Timesreporters Online gathered that the spike in criminal activities, including kidnappings, burglaries, and armed robberies, has sparked widespread concern among residents, who are now demanding increased security measures to safeguard their lives and property.
The situation, security experts said, is particularly worrisome given the FCT’s status as the seat of government and hub of diplomatic activity.
Residents are also calling on security agencies to take decisive action to address the situation, deploying more intelligence assets and conducting targeted operations to dismantle criminal networks and bring perpetrators to justice.
Respondents who spoke to Timesreporters Online about the troubling security situation in FCT stressed that only through sustained efforts can the territory regain its reputation as a safe and secure environment for residents and visitors alike.
Just last week, there was a report that the residence of the Ghanaian High Commissioner to Nigeria was burgled by yet-to-be-identified hoodlums.
Sources close to the High Commission revealed that the hoodlums entered through the back of the house and carted away one 65-inch TV set, gas cylinders, and two 5-kg bags of rice from the residence.
This ugly incident took place barely a week after the death of Ghanaian woman Freda Arnong, who encountered a one-chance criminal syndicate.
It was gathered that Freda, who closed from a house fellowship near the CBN Institute, Maitama, on July 1, 2025, died on Sunday, July 6, 2025, at the National Hospital Abuja, while the official residence of the Ghanaian High Commissioner to Nigeria in Maitama was burgled on Thursday, July 10, 2025.
Further findings revealed that the Ghanaian High Commissioner is also alleged to have fled his residence due to heightened insecurity in the territory.
Earlier this month, precisely on July 12, 2025, a 23-year-old lady, identified as Grace Godwin, was allegedly killed by suspected one-chance criminal syndicates, and her corpse was dumped by the roadside in the Jabi area of FCT. There are several other unreported cases of one chance criminals making life difficult for residents.
Meanwhile, in a related development, another unidentified woman was found unconscious along the Kubwa–Deidei Road around 10:30 p.m. on July 8, 2025, and was rushed to the Trauma Centre at National Hospital, Abuja. She is currently receiving treatment, but her identity remains unknown, according to a statement by the National Hospital.
This is in addition to the multiple unresolved cases of young ladies who are murdered in different hotel rooms across the territory.
The FCT Police Command, on June 18, 2025, in a statement, said that a young woman was found unconscious with her hands tied behind her in a hotel room located in the Gwarinpa area of Abuja. She was confirmed dead in the hospital. There is hardly a week that passes without disturbing reports from victims of these dastardly criminal syndicates operating freely in the city.
Just this weekend, the governorship candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) for the upcoming Anambra State election, Chief Jude Ezenwafor, was shot in Abuja. Ezenwafor told journalists early on Saturday morning that he had a near-death experience when gunmen accosted him around Wuse 2 on Friday night on his way home after an appointment.
“I’m currently in the hospital. The doctors are making efforts to operate on me so that they can remove bullets from my body,” he said faintly.
Responding to the ugly development, the FCT police command confirmed the incident in a statement, adding that their operatives are investigating the incident.
The statement signed by the Command Spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, said, “The Police Command is yet to conclude investigations as to the true position and situation surrounding the incident. While the investigation is currently in full gear, individuals or persons with relevant information are advised to come forward and report to the nearest police station.”
The spokesperson, however, denied knowledge of the burgling of the Ghanaian High Commissioner’s residence in Abuja. According to her, “Let me clarify because nothing happened.”
Responding to the incident, a resident of the territory and retired Nigerian Ambassador to Mexico, Amb. Ogbole Amedu-Ode, said the burgling of the residence of a diplomat raises a serious red flag.
He said, “If the security situation has become this grave for the residence of a principal envoy, a High Commissioner being burgled raises a red flag. This is because, in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic and Consular Relations 1961, the person of a diplomat and the premises of a diplomatic mission – in this case, the Ghanaian High Commission – are inviolable.
“Having signed up to that convention, I think that for our image as a sovereign nation capable of holding and maintaining security for lives and property within our national space, we should do everything possible to uncover those behind it and bring them to book, to send a signal to others that there is a line they should not cross.”
Retired Commissioner of Police, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command, Lawrence Alobi, noted that there is no crime-free society.
He nevertheless stated, “But the police, being the lead agency in internal security, and knowing that Abuja is the seat of government with diplomatic missions and multilateral institutions, the security of the FCT must be watertight, more so than in other states, because it houses representatives of countries from around the world.”
He stressed that the police and other security agencies need to do more than they are currently doing to ensure that residents, particularly diplomats and foreign agencies, are well protected.
“We have an Embassy Protection Unit within the Police Command, and I am sure they are aware that the staff of the embassy need to be well protected. They need to ensure that the perpetrators are not only apprehended but also prosecuted. The police are doing well, but they need to do more,” he said.
A security expert, Chidi Omeje, said that virtually everybody in the FCT is alarmed over the heightened insecurity in the territory.
The development, he said, is quite concerning. “It is expected that as the headquarters of all the security, intelligence, and emergency response agencies in the country, the FCT should enjoy relative peace and security, but that is not so. That is probably because those who are in charge of the city are not paying close attention to this ugly development.
“The one-chance criminal syndicates have existed in Abuja for a long time, and it is expected of the heads of security agencies and the FCT administration to pay particular attention to it. All it requires is to deploy enough intelligence assets because the syndicates can only be dismantled through intelligence-led operations. Security agencies need to apprehend the perpetrators and their sponsors so as to break their criminal networks,” he said.
He noted that there are also kidnapping cases on the outskirts of the city, and people are generally feeling unsafe in the territory.
