• Police, DSS, soldiers mount sentry at key entry points
Deji Elumoye in Abuja
There was heavy presence of armed security officers at the entry points to the seat of power, the presidential villa in Abuja, on Thursday.
Officers from various security agencies, including the army, police, and Department of State Services (DSS), restricted access to only residents and persons with official business within the area. This followed concerns about a planned protest on the recent abduction of schoolchildren and teachers in Oyo State.
A combined team of military personnel cordoned off the country’s seat of power, turning back motorists and pedestrians, who could not establish legitimate reasons for entering the area.
The unusually tight security measures affected the two major access routes to State House; the road from the Federal Secretariat and Supreme Court axis and the route from the Asokoro end, where armed security personnel were deployed in large numbers from as early as 7am on Thursday.
Access to the area was limited strictly to residents of the presidential villa community, government officials, workers, and other persons with verifiable engagements within State House and adjoining offices.
Security operatives at the various checkpoints subjected visitors to thorough scrutiny, demanding identification and explanations of their destinations before allowing them to pass.
Many motorists without official business in the area were denied entry and directed to take alternative routes, resulting in disruptions to vehicular movement around parts of the Three Arms Zone and adjoining roads.
The heightened security around the villa was not unconnected to the threat by rights activist and presidential candidate of African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, to lead a protest march to the presidential villa if the schoolchildren and teachers abducted in Oyo State were not rescued by Thursday.
Sowore had declared, “On Thursday, we are going to Aso Rock Villa if the children are not rescued. You cannot claim to be president of Nigeria and refuse to do the job of the commander of the armed forces.”