THE Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has got a new Commissioner of Police (CP) amidst the rising spate of kidnapping in the Territory.
The new CP is a former Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Operations of the Command, Beneth Igwe, according to a statement by the Head, Press and Public Relations of the Police Service Commission (PSC) , kechukwu Ani, on Wednesday, January 31.
“CP Beneth Igwe mni has returned to the Federal Capital Territory Command as the Commissioner in charge of the Command. He was once DCP, OPs in the FCT Command,” Ani noted.
Nine other CPs have also been appointed in other states, including Peter Ukachi Opara (Osun), Olughemiga Emmanuel Adesina (Benue), Akinwale Kunle Adeniran (Ekiti), and Mohammed Umar Abba (Adamawa.)
Others are Abaniwonda Surajudeen Olufemi (Delta), Ademola Waheed Ayilara (Akwa Ibom), David Iloyanomon (Taraba), Abayomi Oladipo Peter (Ondo), and Hassan Abdu Yabnet (Plateau.)
Residents of the FCT have been struggling with a rising spate of kidnapping in the Territory’s Area Councils, especially Bwari.
On Sunday, January 28, gunmen abducted two teenage sisters in Chikakore, a community in Kubwa, Bwari Area Council of the FCT.
The ICIR reported that many residents of the area council fled their homes due to the rising spate of abductions in the area.
As of January 19, at least 42 people had been abducted within the area council in 2024 alone.
Before the current spike in cases of abduction, there have been other security concerns among the FCT residents, especially since members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) blew up the Kuje medium correctional facility on July 5, freeing all 64 suspected terrorists and over 800 other inmates.
The gunmen also ambushed the Presidential Guards Brigade in the Bwari area of the nation’s capital days later, killing nearly a dozen officers.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.