Senate will summon Wike over kidnapping epidemic – Kingibe

The Senator Representing the Federal Capital Territory, Ireti Kingibe, said the Senate will summon the Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, over the rising rate of insecurity in Abuja.

There has been an increase in cases of abduction in Abuja lately.

Kingibe, while appearing on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Sunday disclosed that the Senate will summon Wike and heads of security agencies over the spike in crimes in the nation’s capital.

She said, “When the Senate resumes, I plan that the (Senate) FCT committee specifically needs to sit with the two ministers and the security agencies for them to give us their plans concerning security.

“It is not that I am hoping. I know he will be summoned. But whether he responds or not is a different matter entirely. But as the chief security officer of the FCT, he should have a plan.

“He should be able to tell us, the committee, and specifically me, that this is the plan for protecting the people of the FCT. Between him, the police commissioner, and the head of the DSS, they must have a plan.”

Kingibe who commended the security agencies, added that a lot needs to be done to tackle insecurity in the nation’s capital.

She added, “ I must commend the security agencies for doing something when we started to scream. But the truth is a little bit earlier, I tried to draw their attention and I was told that it was exaggerated and I said it couldn’t be because what I’m telling them, I did not get from social media. I got it from my constituents. But I’m glad that everybody, we are now all seem to be on the same page.

“They’re trying to take it all seriously, but a lot more needs to be done. Catching the kidnappers is just the symptom. We need to get to the root cause of what is causing all of this insecurity.”

Over 69 persons were killed and 152 abducted during 194 attacks carried out by bandits and other criminals in the FCT in 2022, according to data sourced from media reports and a leading indigenous intelligence outfit, Beacon Consulting.