Abuja’s Metropolitan Police boss, ACP Nurudeen Sabo, speaks on security in the Federal Capital City, including the seat of government, Aso Villa, in this interview with Kassim Omomia. Excerpts

In Abuja can you now sleep with your two eyes closed?
Yes, it is the development we achieved with massive deployment of men in all the strategic points that are prone to crime.

So, we created what we call Buffer Zones; strategic locations where we placed some 10 to15 policemen for any emergency.

For any crime committed close to that location, the hoodlums can’t even strike because of the presence of our policemen. If they venture strike nearby, those at the buffer zones will respond to that location, and we have achieved so many results through the buffer zones.

We are also having about five buffer zones in some strategic areas. We have one at AYA, Asokoro, at Wuse Market, NICON Junction within Maitama, Berger roundabout, Area 1 roundabout, and UTC.

These are the places that were vulnerable before; places where pedestrians can be attacked, and their bags, phones stolen, or ‘one chance’ perpetrators can arrange to pick people up. So, because of these, we sat to strategise and designed buffer zones for any eventualities. We have chased the hoodlums out of the metropolis area.

Security in Abuja is an illusion, the metropolis cannot be said to be secured because some places still have pockets of breaking- in, car theft and some few days ago around area 10, hoodlums attacked some residents.

What measures did you take to achieve these in specific terms?
We have already taken measures, because we noticed breaking into houses and attacks are persistent in Area 10 and Garki in general.

What we did was to engage in raids of some criminal hideouts and batchers. Sometime ago, we heard of a house that was broken into, so, our people responded to the victim’s call. Immediately our men responded, the hoodlums entered into one batchas. We followed the footprints and later found out that the hoodlums normally use the batcha.

The criminals were living in these illegal structures and then strike in the residential areas in Garki. So, we went back and collaborated with environmental protection agency, developmental control, and demolished all the illegal structures.

Now, if you go there, all the illegal structures that are harbouring the hoodlums and criminals have been cleared, and this is consistent.

From Garki, there are demolitions and raiding. It is continuing now in Wuse, all within the metropolitan. We have put operation in motion to clear all these illegal buildings harbouring the hoodlums.

Why is car theft so rampant in the metropolis? You park your vehicle, go to sleep and you wake up the following morning but the same car has been removed, yet we have these buffer zones, check points and motorised patrols in the city. What are the checkpoints really doing?

Normally, when we have timely information, you know we have limited number of policemen in Nigeria, and Abuja is not an exception, we cannot put all the police to be checking all the cars that are packed in people’s or individuals’ garages. So, we normally advice the owners of the cars to sacrifice N5,000 to buy pedal locks to secure their vehicles. Because the moment the hoodlum sees the pedal lock, he will not attempt, talk less of trying to break in and remove the car.

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But if the owners are well to do, they can put trackers in their vehicles, so that even when the car is removed and we get informed, we can inform the company of the tracker and track the location of the vehicle. If it is Kaduna, we will link up with our police in Kaduna; if it in Kogi or Jos, we will link up with the police in that location.

We have arrested and recovered so many vehicles through this tracking system, so, it is left for the owner of the vehicle. You buy a car worth N2 or N3 million, but to sacrifice N5,000 to secure the car, you will not do it. And normally, this happens in a large gathering, eateries, gardens, et cetera. Car thieves normally go and remove the vehicle where parked.

Let us look at the issue of gardens, because these are areas criminals commit in Abuja, especially in the night?
We are aware that some criminals go there and drink. Some of the managements of the gardens are cooperating, we have their numbers, and they have ours.

Some of them call us when they suspect some criminal movements or suspect anything. They call us and we go and pick them.

Sometimes we get breakthrough through arrest. It, however, depends on the proximity of the garden to our station; motorised patrol vehicle or stop-and-search point, they will surely respond. If it is in Maitama area, the garden owner calls the DPO of Maitama, and the DPO will immediately call the nearest patrol vehicle to the location and pick the suspect. Some of the garden managements are cooperating, but some are not.

And that is why if anything happens around your garden, you will be held liable because you are the one that didn’t give us the information, because they are patronising you. And if you hide criminals, you will be arrested, and through you, we will get the hoodlums that escaped from the garden.

With the enormous responsibility on your shoulders, do you sleep at all?
Our Job is 24/7. So, my radio, walkie-talkie, are working 24/7. But as human beings, I do take a nap, but I monitor my radio anytime that the area commander has to come on air and coordinate the operation. I do it without any hesitation, and if the matter can be handled by the DPO, the DPO will handle it, but if he can’t, he will call me either through the phone, radio or walkie-talkie.

Is Madam is not complaining?
My wife must be used to it. I have been doing this job for over 26 years. That is the work of the police; we don’t have our own time.

Some critics of this policy argued that it is not good enough, health wise, to make security operatives, especially the police to do a 12-hourly or 24-hourly duty because it creates fatigue, boredom and lack of agility. Exhaustion is said to contribute to why most policemen are being attacked and killed. Some have suggested the ‘civil service timing’ procedure to check that. Do you subscribe to ‘civil service’ duty time, like say, 7am-6pm?

It is supposed to be an eight-hour shift, but due to the limited number of policemen, we cannot maintain an eight-hour shift. For some time now, the authorities have not recruited policemen, and some are dying, retiring, falling sick, so we can’t do eight hours shift. Rather, we are doing 12 hours shift now. Those who resume in the morning work from 6am-6pm. Another set of people come in the evening. As of now, the Commander-in-Chief has given us the go-ahead to recruit. It is through recruitment that we can get the numbers we can use for the eight hours shift, and I think it’s a good format.

The motorised aspect of police patrol is not effective anywhere in Abuja. What is happening?
That is why I said we have those buffer zones to checkmate the criminals. The buffer zones are doing surveillance; that is why the criminals will not strike where police are. If they dare, then the buffer- zones will respond. We have over 80 vehicles in these strategic locations that have been placed in the metropolis.

Dangote has given us patrol vehicles’ the Force Headquarters has given us. If you go round, you will see them, and if you go to Yar’Adua Centre, we have a patrol vehicle there. If you go to flyover at Wuse, there is one there. Just go round, you will see them.

At all those locations, we have patrol vehicles that can respond promptly and strike the criminals. That is how we checkmate the hoodlums, hence we have not recoded any high profile cases within the metropolis, such as kidnapping, robbery, and so on. By God’s grace, we have maintained that through proactive measures to prevent hoodlum from striking and wreaking havoc within the metro.

How will you compare the rate of crimes between last year and now?
You know what we call Ember months. From September to December, we are expecting a high crime rate, because of people that came to Abuja, some came here to make money legally, others illegally. Some are here to get money by all means, go and celebrate Christmas and New year in their villages, so that they will know that they have arrived, without people knowing the source of their money.

So, because of the expectation of high crime in the FCT, we have during the ember months, design Operation-Order, which is an Action Plan. In the Action plan, we write our mission, our goals: what we are going to achieve within the period. If it is crime-free Christmas we want to achieve, by God’s grace we plan to achieve it. But we cannot say crime cannot be committed in any metropolitan city.

Even in America, you cannot get zero crime situation, with all the technologies they have. But we reduced the crime rate to a minimal level within the period.

What is the situation of ‘One-Chance’ robbers that are still operating?
God helped us to arrest one of the One-Chance kingpin around AYA who has led us to so many of his syndicates. They are the ones operating in Lugbe area, Kubwa expressway and Nyanya. By his arrest, we got so many suspects, and through him, his other members in the syndicate were arrested. It was a massive arrest, and as I’m telling you now, the one-chance case for the past two to three months has been low within the metropolis. But outskirts in the satellite towns, that is not within my jurisdiction. The DPOs and area commanders are there to see the end to the menace of one-chance.

Abuja has become a hub of drug dealers, especially within the Aminu Kano Crescent, Zone 5 and other areas within the city centre. People and security operatives all patronise the dealers. Why have you not made any arrest?
We have started raiding some of the locations where these illicit drugs are sold. I know this because like Zone 4, Aminu Kano Crescent, we got intelligence. We are collaborating with NDLEA . If we make arrest and get a large quantity of drugs, we normally hand it over to NDLEA for prosecution. But if it is not much, on our own, we prosecute them and charge them to court directly. We have marked those points, and we are working on them. But you know, when we make arrest and charge them to court directly, it is left for the judge. He may either give them summary trial, or give them option of fine, and you see them surfacing the next day or next two days.

That depends on the judge, but when we arrest, we investigate. The ones we know we can prosecute, we will prosecute, but when we know that is beyond us and get a large quantities, we hand it over to the NDLEA for their own further investigation.

How have you handled the issue of scammers, employment racketeers, specifically among senior government officials in Abuja? What are the police intelligence also doing to reduce this?

Fraudsters only exist within greedy people. If you are not greedy, it is hard for you to fall into their trap. Those who tell you they will double your money or give you an appointment: ‘’Give me N1million, I have appointment to give you in one of the ministries’’, without authenticating the source or where the person is living, and you just send money into the account, it is all greed. So, we advise people that if they want to get a job, they should follow the due process to get the job.

If somebody wants to give a job to you, follow the person to the ministry where the replacement will be made for the purpose of authentication, follow it from the root before you make any payment. We have received so many cases of job scam, where somebody just call you on phone, that there is an offer for placement, and that they have given one or two persons. So, you should send money, even without investigation. If you send such money, you have fallen into their trap. We always have many complaints, so our advice is that members of the public should be wary of these scammers.

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How many top government functionaries have you arrested?
You see, the victims are never ready to disclose those people. They are ready to pay the money if we arrest them. But the victims are often the problem because they are not ready to take the matter to court. They know and are afraid that if it gets to court, they won’t get their money back. They prefer to get their money refunded. But in any case, we have made many arrests and recoveries, especially with fake appointment letters. The victims will rather die than expose themselves.

You are the ACP in charge of Mr President and the IGP. How does it feel to be in charge and what are the challenges you face?
I don’t see it as a challenge, rather, I see it as a challenge to do the needful; to do the right thing. If we are not doing what is right, if we are not following the rule of law, if I don’t follow the rules and regulations of the police force, I wouldn’t have gotten to the stage of Area Commander. The challenges I face is that, every day, there is one issue or the other; problems from left and right, and we have to follow the matter according to due process and according to merit.

What is the current situation on the attack on Aso Villa sometime ago?
It was an attempt. It wasn’t successful, and investigations are being carried out in the Villa, not by us. The place was not broken into; it was just an attempt, and the culprit has been arrested.