FCT Records 15.1% Drop In Crime Rate – Police

By: Prudence Okonna

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) witnessed a 15.1% drop in crime rate in the preceding year, 2024.

Accordingly, during the same period, 1,077 suspected criminals were arrested in and around the 8,000 square kilometers of Territory.

This was contained in the 2024 Scorecard of the FCT Police Command signed by the Force Police Public Relations, SP Josephine Adeh, and made available to Abuja Digest, in Abuja, Wednesday.

The Scorecard highlighted a significant reduction in crime incidents within the FCT.

According to the report, the Command recorded a 15.1% decrease in crime rates between 2023 and 2024.

According to the report, the achievements were made possible through the implementation of various strategies, including robust community policing engagements, sustained targeted clearance operations, and intelligence-led policing; adding, “these efforts led to the arrest of 1,077 suspects out of 1,426 cases reported”.

The report noted some notable achievements, which include the 104 kidnapping cases reported, with 216 suspects arrested and 68 victims rescued; 268 armed robbery cases reported, with 132 suspects arrested and N409,992,000 recovered from various crime cases.

Others are 376 firearms recovered, including 13 AK-47 magazines and 187 rounds of live ammunition and 73 vehicles recovered from car theft cases.

The report further revealed that the Command reported that 140 police officers died in the line of duty or active service.

The Command, however, assured that despite this loss, it remains committed to sustaining the momentum in combating criminal activities.

In line with the directives of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, the Command conducted a thorough analysis of the security situation, carried out crime-mapping, identified crime hotspots, and implemented an action plan.

”These were made possible through robust community policing engagement, sustained targeted clearance operations, Intelligence-led and visibility policing, collaboration with sister security agencies and strategic communication, public enlightenment, and sensitization,” it added.

The reports remarked that building on the successes of 2024, the Command plans to intensify community policing engagements, intelligence-led policing strategies, targeted clearance operations, and public enlightenment initiatives to address evolving security demands in 2025.