From MURPHY GANAGANA & Dennis Mernyi, Abuja Sunday, November 13, 2011
There is a flurry of activities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) ahead of the 2011 National Honours slated for tomorrow at the International Conference Centre (ICC) in Abuja, during which about 364 Nigerians are expected to receive awards of various categories from the Federal Government.
Already, a water-tight security network to be manned by about 13,000 officers and men of the FCT Police Command as well as personnel of the State Security Services (SSS), Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI), among other specialised and under-cover operatives has been put in place.
Checkpoints, which had earlier been mounted at the entry and exit routes of the nation’s capital and manned by heavily armed soldiers, mobile policemen and operatives of the police Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) following attacks by the dreaded Boko Haram sect, were fortified on Friday.
Sunday Sun further observed that the link road from the entry gate of the FCT Police Command to the residential quarters after the old CBN headquarters had been blocked by stern-looking mobile policemen, who asked motorists to take alternative routes. About 4:52 p.m. on Friday, dozens of armed police ATS personnel were on stand-by outside the command headquarters.
Also, at the weekend, vehicular patrols by the police and military personnel were intensified within Abuja metropolis, just as some major roads leading to the Presidential Villa and other areas with critical facilities were barricaded by security operatives, who diverted motorists to other routes, causing traffic gridlock in the affected areas.
Armed soldiers in combat gear were also seen at the National Mosque on Friday, hours before the commencement of Jummat prayers, even as the area was hitherto manned by a combined team of conventional and mobile policemen, complimented by men of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and the FCT Directorate of Road Traffic Services, otherwise known as VIO.
Sunday Sun checks revealed that besides those deployed to identified strategic locations and facilities, plain-clothed police and military operatives have been deployed in all standard hotels in Abuja for covert operations, while armed uniformed personnel, including men of the police anti-bomb squad, would take charge of screening at the gates in conjunction with private security men.
Most of the hotels were fully booked as at Saturday. Before the arrangements for the national awards, most of the highbrow hotels in Abuja had put in place tighter security measures ahead of the recent Sallah festivities amid reports of a plot by Boko Haram to bomb some luxury hotels, including the Transcorp Hilton, NICON Luxury and Sheraton.
The rush for hotel accommodation started early Friday as most of the hotels and guest houses in Abuja and environs hiked their rates in expectation of the influx.
Some of the hotels’ managers expressed the hope that they would recover from the loss recorded over last week’s security alert by the United States when guests hurriedly left their rooms for fear of Boko Haram.
The FCT Police Commissioner, Mr. Michael Zuokumor, however, said security personnel would be deployed in all the hotels for adequate protection of the award recipients and their well-wishers.
Zuokumor, who hinted that about 13,000 police officers and men have been deployed for the event, did not, however, give the number of personnel from other security agencies that would compliment police efforts.
via Daily Sun
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