Apart from the use of criminal penalties to uphold the law, as well as tactical options to disrupt criminals, areas with high crime rate in Maiduguri neighbourhoods were being reducing gradually.
This is achieved through identifying and demolishing houses patronised by criminals and replacing them with public structures through legal means.
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The criminals are said to be uncomfortable as most of the beer parlours they used to congregate no longer exist.
Musa Danladi, an resident of Wulari quarters said he heaved a sigh of relief after some alcohol outlets which hitherto attracted miscreants were converted to a public health centre.
The drinking places, located behind a police barracks, were said to have been criminals relaxation spots until when the state government banned liquor and illicit substances stalls as well as obtained the land from the police authorities.
Governor Babagana Umara Zulum said persistence in criminal activities in the area had caused great distress to the people and to end the criminality hatched there, the authorities followed legal procedures and demolished the structures and build a befitting clinic in its place.
He laid the foundation stone of a 50-bed comprehensive health centre with staff quarters and perimeter fencing in the area on Wednesday.
The government had earlier demolished structures believed to be crime hotspots and shut down illicit drugs shops at Barka da Zuwa, along Baga Road where it erected a 25-bed clinic and handed it over to the Maiduguri Metropolitan Council to run.
A resident, who would not want to be named, said more public structures should be built on seized crime spots to ensure that criminals do not return there in future.
Clinic at Zannari
Meanwhile, government has also commissioned a clinic at Zannari, otherwise called Abujan Talakawa, which was built in an area where criminal activities were the order of the day. The clinic was commissioned by the governor on Wednesday.
Two other clinics built in safe locations were also unveiled same day. They include the Infectious Diseases Clinic at Kirikasamma and the Health Centre at Njimtilo, Konduga LGA.
In a separate development, the federal government has earmarked money to compensate 374 persons who would be affected by the 66km Maiduguri-Bama road project expected to cost N5 billion under the World Bank’s Multi-Sectoral Crisis Recovery Project for North Eastern Nigeria.
The state would also spend an additional N1 billion. A total of 94 structures would be affected in the 915 days project.
It is expected that when completed, the road, which is along the Nigeria-Cameroon-Chad border would increase economic activities and revenues for the state, according to a report.
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