page 33

page 33

Kuje community laments robbery attacks By Olayemi John-Mensah, Eseohe Ehbota & Zeenat Abdulazeez Residents of Kiyi community have called on the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to provide them with adequate security to curb robbery attacks in the village. Speaking to Aso Chronicle reporters in his palace, the village head, Jibril Shama said the community lacks security, adding that they have no police station which can serve as a security symbol in the village. “If you look at this village, there is no police station and that is why thieves break into people’s houses to rob them. We have vigilante men but as you know they are not permitted by law to carry any arms. Men of the Nigerian Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) who are attached to this community only work in the day time,” he said. Chief Shama said there is the need for the government to establish a police outpost in the community for adequate security of the people and their properties. He said some villagers’ houses and shops were raided by robbers recently and there were no security personnel to rebel the attack. One of the affected shop owners, Mr. Izuchukwu Abugu who operates a provision store said, “we have been experiencing these acts for a very long time. This is the second time they are robbing my shop.” Abugu said he lost N30,000 he kept in the shop and also goods he just stocked his shop with. “I just went to the market to buy some goods and the money I sold I kept here but they went away with everything. They gained access into the shop by breaking the back window,” he added. Our reporters learnt from the village chief that there are vigilantes in the community and they patrol at night, Abugu said he has never seen any vigilante group or person in the village because he closes from his business place between 10 pm and 11 pm every day. He urged the government to provide them with a police station so that the problem of robbery will stop. Another victim of the robbery incident, Mrs. Beatrice Nwakeze, whom the reporters met in a sober mood recounted her ordeal thus: “the incident happened when we had closed at night. It was when we opened this morning that we met the shop scattered.” Mrs. Nwakeze, who said the robbers carted away her sales for the previous day and some of her goods, urged the government to provide adequate security for the community in order to secure lives and properties. Responding to the issue of security and how they protect community, the chairman of the community vigilante group, Abubakar Adamu, said the vigilante is made up of only six men, adding that they cannot handle the security of the community alone hence the need to recruit more hands. “We are only six in number and we do divide ourselves into three groups of two people and we cover different areas. The only weapon we carry is cutlass. Our challenge is the use of ammunition. We have uniform and identity card but no ammunition to work with. We need government’s support to do this work well,” he said. Aso Chronicle team visited the NSCDC office in the community during working hours but it was under lock and key. Chief Shama also said the community is facing challenges of access road to the community, lack of a senior secondary school in the community, a functional healthcare centre, pipe borne water and electricity. “We face a lot of challenges here, one of which is the bad road. I mean the road that runs through Kuje to Gwagwalada. We need government to make the road accessible for us. “We also need a senior secondary school for our wards. We only have a junior secondary school and our children proceed to either Kuje or Gwagwalada for their secondary education. It is not every parent that can afford to pay the transport fare to these areas. The land to build the school is readily available. But we need approval from the government. “We have been to the local education board in Garki soliciting for approval but we were told that there is limited chances as at the time of our visit. We were also asked to wait for three sets to graduate before we can get approval. It is remaining one set to complete the third set,” he said. The chief further appealed to government to equip the primary healthcare centre in the village to function 24hrs. “The health officers that work there run shifts according to their personal arrangement. Whenever we have emergency, especially at night, we either rush the person to Gwagwalada or Kuje and if it is not too serious we have to wait till morning,” he added. He said the village can boast of five bore-holes but only three are functioning, saying the three are not sufficient for the community as most residents resort to fetching water from the stream. He lamented that if the other boreholes are not fixed, the remaining three may soon spoil because of the pressure on them. “Although the electricity supply is stable, there are no extension poles to connect and that makes residents to connect illegally by using ordinary logs they cut by themselves and substandard cables. We urge government to provide us with electricity poles to connect electricity to our various houses,” he appealed.