July 2 (THEWILL) — The Nigeria Police Force has assured residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) that there is no cause for alarm over the heightened security presence and roadblocks across Abuja, describing the measures as routine operations aimed at maintaining law and order.
The reassurance comes amid growing public speculation over the increased deployment of armed security personnel, roadblocks and patrols across key parts of Abuja. The intensified security operations, which have become more visible in recent days, have led to traffic congestion and delays for thousands of commuters, civil servants and other road users travelling within the city centre.
Addressing journalists on Thursday during a joint media briefing by security, defence, intelligence and law enforcement agencies, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Anietie Iniedu, said the deployment was part of a coordinated operation involving multiple security agencies and was not in response to any imminent security threat.
“It is a joint operation. There is no cause for alarm at the moment”, Iniedu said.
He explained that the decision to strengthen security presence followed an observed increase in protests within the city centre, necessitating proactive measures to ensure public safety and prevent any breakdown of law and order.
“We’ve noticed that there has been an upsurge of protests in the city centre, and we’re trying to maintain law and order as is our basic and primary responsibility. The deployments are basically deployments with movement from one location to the other to ensure that our city centre is safe”, he stated.
Iniedu noted that Abuja’s status as Nigeria’s seat of government makes it imperative for security agencies to maintain a strong presence to safeguard critical national assets, diplomatic missions, government institutions and foreign investments.
“Remember, we’re in the capital, and there’s a lot that has to be done to ensure confidence in those in the city centre and also for our foreign investors”, he added.
The police spokesman also disclosed that the Nigeria Police Force had expanded its security strategy beyond intelligence-led policing to what he described as “intelligence-led community collaborative policing.”
According to him, the new approach places greater emphasis on building partnerships with communities, recognising that intelligence gathering alone is insufficient to address emerging security challenges effectively.
“We’ve seen that intelligence alone won’t help us. We have gone far to create collaborative processes with our communities”, he said.
Also speaking at the briefing, Kingsley Amako of the National Coordination Office of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) said security agencies had strengthened intelligence gathering and financial surveillance to disrupt terrorism financing and other criminal activities.
“We have very robust intelligence-gathering mechanisms. As they are evolving into new tricks and changing their tactics, we are also evolving with them”, Amako said.
He explained that although operational details of certain security activities could not be made public, agencies were working collaboratively to counter evolving threats and safeguard the country.
Amako further urged journalists and media organisations to seek clarification from security institutions whenever necessary to ensure accurate reporting and prevent misinformation.
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