FCT Commissioner Appeals for Peace, Urges Residents to Refrain from Protests

FCT Commissioner of Police, Bennett Igweh, has called on residents and indigenes to abstain from the planned nationwide protest on August 1, which is in response to the current economic challenges.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja on Monday, CP Igweh emphasized the significant strides made by the police to ensure security in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). He highlighted the potential risk that such a protest could pose to the area’s stability.

“I want to appeal specifically to the residents and indigenes and everybody in the FCT. Please, lions do not destroy their dens. You cannot see a lion who destroys its den. No, I would not like you to join this protest. I plead with you because we have worked hard to ensure your safety,” Igweh stated.

He recounted the efforts and sacrifices made by the police in combating crime in the surrounding regions, including Kaduna, Nasarawa, and Niger, to ensure the safety of FCT residents. “We have fought those people outside Abuja. We have been to Kaduna, Nasarawa, and Niger to fight criminals so that you can be safe. I have lost men. Last week alone in Gidango, I lost two policemen. The other day, I lost two more. Let our loss pay for the protest. I want to plead with you,” he added.

CP Igweh also highlighted the government’s efforts in providing good infrastructure, stating, “If you check, the government has provided good roads. Whether it’s from the minister of FCT or the president, check the streets in FCT, from Wuse to anywhere you can check, even in the hinterlands. They are trying their best. I don’t need to talk to anybody, but I’m saying it because we have been in the FCT. We know when there are changes. There are changes now in the FCT.”

He expressed concerns about the possibility of external elements disrupting the peace and progress achieved in the FCT. “And we don’t want miscreants outside the FCT to come and start destroying them. We will go back to square one where we were before. I plead, I beg of you, do not join this protest,” he urged.

CP Igweh concluded by calling on all FCT residents to continue working together to keep the nation’s capital safe. “Let us continue collectively to make the FCT safe. Let them go and do what they want to do. But not with us.”