₦airaland Forum

The Special Task Force in Jos, Plateau State has declared that it will shoot armed criminals in the state.

The STF spokesman, Capt. Charles Ekeocha, told newsmen in Jos on Sunday that it would no longer tolerate attacks on military personnel and innocent civilians by hoodlums in the state.

He said two soldiers were lying critically ill in a hospital after they were attacked by unknown persons.

Fearing that they may become the next target of terrorist attacks following the bomb explosion that rocked the United Nations office in Abuja, governors have ordered that security around them and members of their families be doubled to forestall attacks.

Apart from increasing the personal security of the governors, SUNDAY PUNCH gathered that security agencies in all the states have been instructed to provide water tight security at government houses and state secretariats

This current apprehension came after the Boko Haram sect claimed responsibility for the UN attack, which has generated international condemnation with foreign investigators joining the hunt for the perpetrators.

The destructive activities of the sect have hitherto been restricted to Borno State, their base, Bauchi State and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The recent attack on the UN building shows that members of the sect have the capacity to extend to other states of the federation.

Reports from various states have it that diverse security measures have been introduced at the governors’ offices and homes to prevent possible bomb attacks.

Some of the measures employed include an increase in the number of security operatives, thorough checks at the gates to the government house, and relocation of parking lots.

Unlike before, visitors to some of the government houses are now thoroughly quizzed to ascertain their mission before they are allowed in, while vehicles are screened with bomb detectors.

LAGOS

Security agencies in the state have further restricted access to the Lagos Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, as part of the state’s response to the bombing of the UN office in Abuja last week.

Our correspondent learnt that part of the measure to keep Fashola, safe, is preventing unknown visitors from having access to the Lagos House, where the governor’s office is located. Usually all visitors to Lagos house are allowed to park at the visitors’ car park without discrimination.

But a member of the governor’s security team said that henceforth, only government workers at the governor’s office and known visitors like relevant political and business figures in the state would be allowed to park at the visitors’ car park.

It was also gathered that only the personal staff of the governor would be able to drive their vehicles into the governor’s office premises.

Another worker at the governor’s office told our correspondent that there were plans in the office to limit the social and political functions that the governor would be attending.

ILORIN

The Chief Press Secretary to the Kwara State Governor, Abdulwahab Oba, said the state government had taken adequate security measures to protect the governor.

In a telephone interview with our correspondent in Ilorin, Oba said there were security checks before entering the Government House and the Governor’s Office but that those checks were ‘normal security checks.’

Oba stated that there was an increase in the number of security operatives in the state and the government was discussing with security agencies on how to avoid any security breach.

He however said other security measures to protect Ahmed and the entire citizens were not open for public disclosure, because that would jeopardise security measures.

KADUNA

In Kaduna, heavily armed soldiers have been deployed to guard the Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House located within the vicinity of one of the flashpoints in the state capital, Tundun Wada, also noted for housing Islamic religious extremists.

The soldiers, who are the first set of security operatives any visitor to the Kaduna Government House encounters on approaching the gate to the sprawling edifice, were deployed since the upscale in the activities of the notorious Boko Haram Islamic sect to complement other security operatives manning the short drive to the seat of government in the state.

Immediately visitors scale through the thorough screening by the soldiers, they face another checkpoint mounted by a combined team of heavily armed anti-riot policemen and operatives of the state anti-crime security outfit, the Operation Yaki. Here the visitor’s vehicle is thoroughly screened with metal detectors and anti-bomb devices. The interior and the boot of his car are also screened and searched before being allowed to proceed.

The third checkpoint right in front of the main gate to the government House is manned by operatives of the State Security Service who would take one through all the previous rigorous screening and searching with metal detectors and anti-bomb devices.

Inside the Government House complex, barricades have been placed to prevent unauthorised vehicles from driving close to the Governor’s Office. A new parking lot far from the building was recently created for visitors.

Government House sources say that security has also been improved around Governor Patrick Yakowa and members of his family. Security around his convoy, our correspondent learnt, has also been reinforced.

RIVERS

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. David Iyofor, said security required proactive measures, “It is against this backdrop that the state government intends to acquire two surveillance helicopters in collaboration with the FG to ensure aerial patrol of the state.”

He added that visitors to the Government House were thoroughly interrogated and screened to ascertain their mission before being allowed in.

ONDO

Tough security measures are being adopted by the Ondo State Government at the office of Governor Olusegun Mimiko and his official residence both at the Alagbaka area of Akure, the state capital.

Our correspondent observed that the number of security men, comprising the police, civil defence and the State Security Services posted to man the gates of the Government House and the governor’s office has increased. At the moment, anybody whose name is not on the list of visitors being expected to see the governor, which is usually sent daily to the gate, cannot enter the Government House.

Apart from the staff of the governor’s office, any stranger who has not been properly screened is not allowed to enter the office. It was observed that the security men stationed at the gates have anti-bomb detectors that are used to frisk visitors and vehicles entering and going out of both the Government House and the governor’s office.

YENAGOA

There is heightened security around Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State. However, our correspondent gathered that the tight security was not because of the rising cases of bombings by the Boko Haram sect. It was learnt that there has been tight security around governors in the Niger Delta region including Sylva since the advent of militancy and that the security has remained the same despite the reduction in the activities of militants in the region.

JOS

Security has been beefed up in Jishe and Rayfield, the two places where Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State runs his government from following the spate of clashes between some Muslim and indigenous youths since Monday. The clashes have claimed more than 20 lives with an estimated136 people wounded.

Even though the governor has been away for one week, SUNDAY PUNCH gathered that armoured personnel carriers have been placed at strategic points in the metropolis, while a helicopter carries out aerial survey intermittently.

Also security has tightened at the Plateau state House of Assembly with anti riot policemen deployed there.

DELTA

Though, in Delta State, the fear of an attack by the Boko Haram sect is still far-fetched, our correspondent gathered that the security agencies were leaving nothing to chance in ensuring the safety of the government house located in Asaba.

Since the religious sect upped their violence in parts of the north and the FCT, there has been a significant change in the observable activities of the security agents comprising mainly riot policemen and soldiers.

The two major gates leading directly to the government house and the governor’s office, our correspondent noticed, now have more security men manning them.

Whereas, it was a thoroughfare for visitors and journalists in the past, the police officers and military men now subject all unknown faces to questioning and frisking before they are allowed in.

While the inner gate which was always open now has a bar which restricts visitors from gaining entrance, the double entrance now has only one of the iron gates open for visitors. It is also now impossible for a vehicle to speed past the entrance which has now become very narrow.

Unfamiliar faces are also directed to park outside the first entrance before they are allowed to trek into the main Government House building.

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