With consistent alarms on terrorist threats on the federal Capital Territory (FCT) the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has declared increased measures to forestall possible attacks in the country.
The presidency on Friday also called for the public to be vigilant even as it declared that there was no specific signal to imminent terror attack. The government response came in response to palpable panic in the federal capital after world’s most powerful countries doubled down on their terror warnings on the country and followed up with evacuation of families of embassy staff.
The Oracle Today reports that the country has become an embarrassing space for unchallenged criminality by known and unknown gunmen, mercenary bandits and armed insurgents seeking territory for the Islamic State.
A statement from the Presidency declared security measures have been reinforced in and around the FCT,” adding that security forces have heightened monitoring and interception of terrorist communications.
The statement did not however rule out possibility of attack neither did it discredit the warning from United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada that the country is under imminent attack from terrorists.
The Oracle Today recalls that the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) has also called for immediate release of its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, citing possible invasion of the federal capital territory by insurgents believed to enjoy the protection of the Buhari government.
But government has continued to assure that whereas terror remains a global threat, security agencies would continue to monitor the situation to forestall any such attacks.
In the same statement, the Buhari administration admitted that it has continued to foil attacks, routing pout threats and doing much more secretly and confidentially.
The Presidency called on the people to be cautious and vigilant without running into panic dur to cautions taken by foreign embassies in the country.
On Thursday, Nigerian police instructed “all strategic police managers in charge of commands and tactical formations within the country to beef up security in their respective jurisdictions, especially in the FCT.”
The Inspector General of Police Usman Alkali Baba said “all emergency numbers” should be activated to help insure “a 24/7 prompt response with combatant officers and men on standby.”
The statement came as the US State Department ordered the departure of diplomatic dependents from Abuja.
It initially said in a statement on Thursday that non-emergency government employees and their families had been ordered to leave. On Friday, the State Department clarified that the order to evacuate applied to families and not employees, who had however been authorized but not ordered to go.
“Terrorists may attack with little or no warning,” targeting malls, markets, hotels, places of worship, restaurants, bars or schools, the State Department said in its country summary for Nigeria.
The United States, Britain, Australia and Canada had issued warnings last weekend, although the three latter countries had not ordered any evacuation of staff or their families as of Friday.
On Thursday, Jabi Lake Mall, a major shopping centre in Abuja was temporarily shut down for unspecified security reasons.
