Tinubu Bringing Down Crimes, Improving Governance Architecture, Bwala Declares

•Army general orders soldiers to brutalise six FCTA enforcement officers 

Deji Elumoye and Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja  

The Bola Tinubu administration introduced the Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey (CESPS), through the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), marking a significant step towards a data-driven approach to governance. 

Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communications, Daniel Bwala, in a release, said CESPS reflected a positive shift in Nigeria’s governance framework.

According to Bwala, “The CESPS is a novel concept designed to provide data-backed insights into issues affecting the polity, moving away from conjectures or assumptions.”

He stressed that the first CESPS report offered a comprehensive breakdown of crime experiences in 2024 across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.

The report showed that the South-east recorded the lowest incidence, with 6.2 million cases, while North-west topped the chart with 14.4 million cases. 

Further breakdown of the crime incidents for 2023 showed South-west had 6.9 million cases; South-south 7.7 million cases; North-east 7.9 million cases; and North-central 8.8 million cases.

Despite the figures, the report highlighted a decline in crime compared to 2023, underscoring the administration’s effort to enhance security.

“The synergy among security agencies, including military, paramilitary, and private sector collaborations, fostered by the Renewed Hope administration, has been instrumental in this progress,” Bwala stated. 

He pointed to reduced kidnapping in the south, decreased banditry in the north, and a significant decline in attacks by the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its affiliates.

The arrest of Simon Ekpa, a Finland-based instigator linked to unrest in the South-east, was cited as a milestone in the fight against insecurity. 

Additionally, fewer school attacks in the north this year further illustrated the administration’s achievements.

CESPS also touched on inflation, attributing recent increases to flooding in northern states, which disrupted agricultural output. 

Meanwhile, soldiers, acting on the orders of a superior officer, by name, Maj Gen JT Audu, yesterday, brutalised six officials of Development Control of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Administration on enforcement duties.

Two operation Hilux vans and one other were destroyed during the onslaught that happened at Sabo Lugbe on the corridor of the international airport.

The Development and Control officials were trying to remove an illegal structure with no approval at plot 416, said to belong to the officer, when crisis escalated.

One of the victims said when the removal was going on, the army top brat, upon getting information about the exercise, promptly sent two soldiers to his house to ascertain the situation. 

When the soldiers, who drove in an unmarked vehicle, arrived the scene, they blocked the entrance to the property, to prevent the enforcement team from escaping from the premises, and even threatened to shoot them.

A rating, Private Jamilu (surname unknown) with a corked rifle, threatened to shoot the operator of the bulldozer if he refused to disembark from his seat on heavy duty machine.

Despite complying with the order, the operator was beaten to pulp by the two soldiers, who indiscriminately shot at and deflated the four tyres of the bulldozer.

More soldiers were mobilised to the scene and they abducted and took the six enforcement officers, led by Sector Sodangi, to the General’s house, where they were pulverised and held hostage for hours. 

The three Hilux vans were driven to Major Gen JT Audu’s house, while the remaining vehicles that they could not lay hands on were flattened by gunshots. 

Upon receiving the information, the DPO Trademore, visited the scene, but the General blatantly refused to listen to her.