Prominent pro-democracy advocates: Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has endorsed and described as salutary and timely, the decision of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, that the FCT Administration would not condone unprofiled vehicles in the nation’s capital beginning from January 2025.
The Rights group in a press release issued by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko recalled that the FCT Minister further said that all commercial buses in the nation’s capital would be profiled by the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services, DSS.
The FCT Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike made this statement at the FCT Renewed Hope Youth Empowerment Programme in Abuja last Thursday, where he handed over some new cars to beneficiaries to use as taxis.
“They are not paying a dime. No. The government is saying this is our support to feed your family and reduce the cost of transportation in the city. Abuja should compete with other cities in the world,” the Minister said.
He charged the beneficiaries not to be ashamed that they are being empowered to be taxi drivers, saying that many Nigerians who reject taxi driving jobs at home gladly embrace such when they travel abroad.
To curb cases of kidnapping and ‘one-chance’ robbery, the minister said effective January 2025, any commercial bus not duly profiled by security agencies won’t be allowed to operate within the nation’s capital.
“Most of the Keke Napep and most of the motorcycles are informants. Everybody here that is a beneficiary is being profiled by the security.
“And so what we are coming up with is that from January next year, there will be nobody that will operate as a taxi driver or a bus driver without having approval from security, with security profiling you and without going about with the Abuja colour.
“Nothing like using any vehicle on the road. No, we won’t allow that. From January, we won’t allow that.
“We will take the vehicle number, name of the drivers and the rest so everybody will have confidence that this is the vehicle I’m entering in case anything happens,” he added.
Welcoming the far-reaching policy by the FCT Administration to secure the lives and property of Abuja residents through the security vetting of taxi and bus drivers in the nation’s capital, the prominent civil Rights advocacy Group: HURIWA, however, expressed fear that the Police or the Department of State Services must ensure that this exercise of vetting or profiling these commercial drivers isn’t converted to avenues for the coordinated exploitation and systematic extortion of these drivers.
HURIWA said it was however proposing to the FCT Administration to set up a digitalised and computerised office for the purposes of the security profiling of the commercial drivers and that the office should be made up of staff drawn jointly from the FCT commands of the Nigeria Police Force, the FCT Directorate of Department of State Services, DSS, FCT commands of the Nigerian Civil Defence Corps and Nigerian Immigration Services, NIS, just as the Rights group is warning against imposition of fees payable by these drivers whose security profiles are to be captured or else some unscrupulous individuals, agents or criminal barons could infiltrate and corrupt the system just so they obtain security clearance for their gang members operating as taxi or bus drivers in the FCT and then the objective of implementing the security profiling of drivers would be automatically compromised and defeated inevitably.
HURIWA said it was of the opinion that a data bank of commercial drivers should be uploaded and domiciled with the FCT transportation and legal secretariat and could be accessed by Abuja residents who need such information whilst seeking judicial redress in cases involving commercial vehicle operators.
It said the divers of taxis and buses coming into Abuja from all parts of Nigeria should also be profiled to effectively provide fool-proof protection to FCT residents.
“The prosecution of 1-chance robbers by the government must be widely publicised to serve as deterrent,” the statement noted.
HURIWA disclosed that from 2015 till date, over 100 reported cases of 1-chance robberies have been recorded just as hundreds of innocent Abuja residents suffered varying degrees of physical and bodily injuries with dozens of these victims dying eventually from these crimes just as the Rights group affirmed that the FCT has unfortunately not found a tested, trusted and effective panacea to the growing incidence of 1-chance crimes.
“Six individuals, identified as Abubakar Adams, Ismail Salisu, Yusuf Bello, Nasiru Saidi, Sani Usman, and Ibrahim Kasa, were arrested by the Federal Capital Territory Command on June 16, 2024, for their involvement in “one chance” robberies in Abuja.
“These suspects would target unsuspecting passengers, rob them of their valuables, and then push them out of moving vehicles or tricycles.
“The police recovered several items from the suspects, including cutlasses, knives, and a stolen phone.
“Chukwudi, 47, a self-proclaimed radio mechanic, was arrested by IGP Intelligence Response Team, IRT, operatives in Abuja for running a notorious “one-chance” syndicate. He had been in the business for 22 years, marrying three wives and having eight children. Previously arrested 22 years ago for the same offense, he spent over a year in Suleja Prison before continuing his criminal activities.
“The Abuja Police Command arrested a four-member “one-chance” syndicate on August 30, 2022, rescuing a victim and recovering N200,000 in stolen cash. However, we found a more recent report of a similar arrest, where 11 suspects were apprehended by the Nigeria Police Force for their involvement in the notorious “one-chance” robbery scheme in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, on March 7, 2024.
“The suspects, comprising seven females and four males, were caught in the Karmo Area of the FCT after an intelligence report.
“2022: Key Points: Suspects: 11 individuals, including seven females and four males, Location: Karmo area, FCT, Stolen Items Recovered: A POS machine and a Mazda Saloon car; Modus Operandi: Targeting passengers, evaluating for valuables, and stealing or scamming; Police Warning: Avoid isolated areas, suspicious schemes, and jungle justice.
“2019: On October 1, 2019, a mob in Abuja lynched three suspected “one-chance” robbers who allegedly robbed a woman and pushed her out of a moving car. The suspects were stoned to death, and their bodies and vehicle were set ablaze.
“2018: One-Chance Robbery Gang Arrested in Abuja, The FCT Police Command arrested five members of an armed robbery gang that targeted unsuspecting passengers in their taxi. Suspects: Ebuka Ezeanyido (28), Chidebe Okocha (36), Chukwuma Amichie (30), Augustine Agbo (32) and Chinedu Obi (25).
“Crime: Robbed and killed Michael Ibebuogu on May 27, 2018.
“6th May 2016: A 26-year-old woman, Tuesday, lost the sum of N250,000 to a cab driver on Abuja-Kubwa expressway. The victim, a Manager of a private firm, residing in Phase 4, Kubwa, Abuja, was also said to have been robbed of her phone and other valuables by the suspect who is presently at large.
“On August 10, 2015, the FCT Police Command arrested four “one-chance” robbery suspects – Madam Oyekachi Ogazi, Chinedu Onyebuchi, Paul Okere, and Maxwell Okechukwu – after a dramatic rescue of a female victim. The gang, consisting of one female and three males, targeted innocent citizens in the FCT,” the statement further disclosed.