FCT faces security threats as streetlights stop functioning

Residents of the Federal Capital Territory are now exposed to security threats as a larger part of the city is in perpetual darkness every night.

Findings on Tuesday indicate that upscale areas, including Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse, Aminu Kano Street, parts of Asokoro, Maitama and Jabi, Shehu Shagari Way, Central Business District and other areas in the cadastral zone no longer have working streetlights.

Checks also show that a major part of the Kubwa Expressway, was also in darkness as the lights had yet to be fixed by the Federal Capital Territory Administration after they stopped functioning some time ago.

Further checks show that some of the streetlight poles on the Murtala Mohammed Expressway knocked down by motorists, were not replaced by the culprits or the authorities.

The situation is not different on the Umaru Yar’Adua Road leading to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, where the major part of the highway is not serviced by streetlights at night.

The FCT Administration under the former Minister, Muhammed Bala, had contracted the maintenance of the streetlights to some consultants and local firms, but it later disengaged some of them when they failed to perform up to expectations.

Security sources said the failure of the government to maintain the lights would expose residents to incidents of crime, particularly, car thefts and rape.

The current FCT minister, Mohammed Bello, who embarked on a tour of the city on assuming office in 2015, also observed that a large part of the city was in darkness, but curiously, his administration had yet to take any positive action to address the situation almost one year after.

Source: Punch