By Oso Abidemi
Adebayo Folorunsho-Francis, a journalist with The PUNCH, has decried police inaction after falling victim to an armed robbery attack in Abuja last Tuesday night.
The National Assembly correspondent recounted that he was assaulted near Dantata Bridge along Airport Road around 10pm after his vehicle broke down.
While trying to procure fuel from nearby vendors at Optimal Filling Station, a group of hoodlums emerged from the Cashew Plantation area, smashed his car windows, and made away with his bag.
The stolen items included a laptop, Samsung Tab A8, a Vivo smartphone, and N250,000 cash contributions from colleagues for his late father’s burial.
“I had a firsthand experience of the insecurity plaguing Abuja. The most shocking part was that the incident happened barely 1,200 metres from a police checkpoint,” Adebayo said.
He reported the incident to officers at the checkpoint, but they allegedly told him there was nothing they could do and directed him to Galadimawa Police Station.
However, attempts to lodge a formal complaint were met with jurisdictional confusion, as Galadimawa officers redirected him to Lugbe Police Station, and vice versa.
Even after the intervention of the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, Josephine Adeh, the matter was merely documented with no immediate action taken.
“When I asked if they would conduct a raid in the area, the DCO told me their job was just to ‘incident the case and give an extract’,” he added.
Adebayo, visibly shaken by the incident, expressed disappointment in the security system.
“I’m still in shock. People say I should thank God I wasn’t stabbed, but I’m angry that I was so vulnerable and unprotected.”
His experience underscores growing public concerns over safety and the responsiveness of security agencies in Nigeria’s capital.
