Abuja CCTV Few Meters From The Bomb Blast Scene Is Dead

Where are the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras that purportedly gulped $470 million in the FCT? The questions about their existence and effectiveness within Abuja are being asked, as bombing of the capital city at will by Boko Haram insurgents has not abated. Security experts and residents have at different times tagged the project dead on arrival and expressed doubts that the cameras ever worked. In several reports done by LEADERSHIP, the federal government had been called to question over the functionality of the cameras. A Federal High Court in Abuja had recently granted an ex-parte application, seeking an order of mandamus to compel the EFCC to probe the controversial contract awarded to Chinese company, ZTE Corporation by the federal government. It was also reported recently that the presidency following the failure of the... CCTVs to contribute in the fight against insurgency had turned down a request by the Ministry of Police Affairs to pay additional N3billion to the contractor handling the project. LEADERSHIP findings following the blast that rocked the EMAB Plaza in Wuse II on Wednesday afternoon, which left at least 24 people dead, show that if truly the CCTVs existed around the busy shopping complex, the suspected bombers would have been stopped before the bombing and identified by now. A senior police officer who spoke under condition of anonymity told LEADERSHIP weekend that only a few of the CCTV cameras are currently working. The reason for the breakdown of the cameras, according to him, includes lack of maintenance as well as power failure. “The truth is that some of them are not working. Definitely, not all of them can work. Some were faulty from day one. Others may suffer power failure. Moreover, not all parts of Abuja, even within the metropolis, are covered,” the source said. The officer also pointed out that the terrorists always try to avoid areas where there are visible CCTVs. “Terrorists are very intelligent crooks. When they want to select their target, they select places where the eyes of the camera will not come. That’s where you hear things like CCTV cameras serving as deterrent. If they want to strike in Abuja I’m sure they will select their target away from the CCTVs,” the officer said. Also, the coordinator of the National Information Centre, Mr Mike Omeri, while giving an update on the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls and the fight against insurgency, collaborated LEADERSHIP findings when he revealed that the FCT lacked adequate CCTV to monitor activities in the metropolis and called on private organisations and public-spirited individuals to install the CCTV in their premises. “The minister of FCT has said they are working. He said they are working on improving them. CCTV is not everywhere in the city; that is why we are calling on citizens to install CCTV and that is one way they can contribute to the fight against terrorism,” Omeri said. The coordinator, who is also the director- general of the National Orientation Agency, NOA, said the situation in the country demanded that everyone cooperate with the security agencies to rid the country of insurgents. He said though the CCTV cameras within the city are working, they are not in some parts of the city. Experts express doubts over the functionality of Abuja CCTV Meanwhile, security experts have expressed doubts over the operations of the several CCTV cameras installed in Abuja. Some of them who spoke to LEADERSHIP Weekend yesterday doubted the functionality of the CCTV in the capital city. A former director of State Security Service (SSS), Mr Mike Ejiofor, was of the view that most of those installed in Abuja are not functioning. “From what we have seen, I doubt if the installed cameras are really working. We had up to three bombings now and we have not been told of any outcome from investigations from the cameras. When incidents like this happens, the cameras are supposed to pick up people who are involved in the crime but, so far, I don’t know whether we have that facility or the existing ones are really functioning,” he said. Also, a former commissioner of police in the FCT, Mr Lawrence Alobi, while responding to LEADERSHIP Weekend, said the importance of CCTV camera cannot be overemphasised in combating crimes. The ex-police boss questioned the sincerity of those who handled the installation of CCTV in Abuja. “The CCTV in Abuja, how functional are they? Who awarded the contracts? Are they functioning? Where are they located? How effective are they? What has been achieved from them and when were they installed? Are they CCTVs being maintained? These are the questions we should be asking,” he said. He also urged the federal government to come up with a policy of making all offices, businesses both public and private install CCTV cameras to check crimes in the country. He reminded all that the terrorists who bombed Boston in the United Stated were apprehended through a CCTV installed in a private restaurant. “If it can be replicated in Nigeria, it will go a long way in helping us to checkmate insurgency in Nigeria,” Alobi said. FCT minister challenged to produce CCTV footage of bomber Security expert Chief Gilbert Nwoko, who spoke with LEADERSHIP on the CCTVs in the FCT challenged the FCT minister, Sen. Balla Mohammed, to produce the footage of the EMAB Plaza bombing images if truly the FCT has functional CCTV. Another security analyst, Otunba Bamidele Shodeinde, queried why the FCT minister would claim that CCTV cameras were working when the Boko Haram insurgents have successfully carried out several attacks on the FCT without leaving any trace behind. “Nigerians are no longer fools; we have advanced very far. It is only our leaders who don’t want to advance and so they are always thinking that the people are as backward as them, if not even more backward. “Everybody is asking the government how they spent billions of taxpayers’ money installing CCTV cameras which are not working and cannot help in the fight to eradicate terrorism in the country. “The Nyanya bombing happened the first time and they told us that the CCTVs were not in the suburbs. Now it has happened in the metropolis and it is apparent that the CCTVs in the metropolis are not working. “Nigerians want the government to prove that the CCTVs are working and capable of helping to identifying the terrorists and bringing them to book,” he said. Eyewitness accounts dispute police arrest claim After Wednesday’s deadly bomb blast at EMAB Plaza, Wuse II, Abuja, and the widely circulated claim by the security agents of arrest of a suspect and killing of another fleeing the scene, accounts from some eyewitnesses who spoke to LEADERSHIP indicated that the claims might not be entirely true. The eyewitness who does not want his name mentioned in print said that after the bomb went up, a few minutes before 4pm, exactly when Muslims’ call for prayers was on, “there was pandemonium everywhere as people were lying on the ground; some were dead, wounded and trapped in cars”. “I saw others running as a far as their legs could carry them as thick smoke filled the skies; suddenly cars started exploding as more fire engulfed the area with people still inside some of the cars; I was confused as to what to do as I stayed flat on the floor. At that moment, all I could hear and see were wailing for the first five minutes as emergency people from National Emergency management Agency (NEMA) were the first to show up. There was no policeman five to 10 minutes after the blast and so how come they were able to identify the bomber and arrest him in the first few minutes after the blast when there was total confusion all over the place?” the witness said. Another eyewitness also told LEADERSHIP that policemen attached to some of the banks around Emab Plaza took to their heels as the bomb went off, questioning the credibility of the said arrest. “Maybe they did that to show Nigerians that they are working, as I do not see any truth in the claims by the security personnel,” he stated. “When did the military arrive the scene? The focus of everyone after the blast was to first save one’s head before looking for survivors; many cars were pushed from burning flames by spirited individuals who defied all odds to save people as well as cars from burning as the people from the fire service came 40 minutes after the blast. “I didn’t see the police arresting anyone on bike moments after the blast . The police that arrived minutes later... how come they were able to identify the bomber and arrest him or did they scan the CCTV camera before arriving at the scene of the blast? “Let us see the footage recorded from the CCTV camera mounted around the place to be able to ascertain the claims of arrest by the police. I don’t believe in this kind of public relations gimmicks of the police.”