How well founded are these terror alerts?
If you live in Abuja or have friends and family in the state, you might want to take this gist rather seriously. A few days ago, the United States of America and the United Kingdom directed non-essential embassy staff and their family members to leave the Abuja Federal Capital Territory because according to them there was an elevated risk of terror attacks in Nigeria. Abuja could be a major hit point.
They said the terrorists might target government buildings, places of worship, schools, hotels, shopping malls, etc. In an updated alert issued to the staff, they urged them to leave the state completely or avoid public places in the state.
The federal government of Nigeria has since come out to assure Nigerians that there is nothing to be scared of. Adding that this should not cause any panic as security operatives are working on the intel.
The various security agencies, the Military, and the Department of State Services (DSS) worked together to carry out a joint security operation aimed to smoke out criminals in the nooks and crannies of the F.C.T. The joint operation seemed to yield results. On Monday last week, two suspects were arrested and more members of the notorious terror group ISWAP were also apprehended during the week. More intelligence officers were dispatched to various towns in the F.C.T and also special combat-ready troops of the Guards Brigade were spotted at multiple points within the F.C.T.
The spokesperson of the Police Command in the FCT said the reason for the presence of various security operatives all around the FCT is for visibility and confidence building and not as a panic response to the terror alert that was issued.
Anyway regardless of the veracity of the terror alert, Nigerians living in Abuja and its environs should also be alert just.
#STATEAFFAIRS is a segment that gives you a quick rundown of various political and state issues as they happen in the most simple, subtle language. In this edition, we are looking at the terror alert Nigeria got from the U.S and U.K.
