By CALEB AYANSINA

CHAIRMAN of Bwari Local Government Council in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Yohanna Ushafa, has resorted to collaboration with traditional rulers in the area with a view to resolving insecurity ravaging the council as he identified Mpape and Deidei as black spots in the council.

To this end, the chairman has met with traditional rulers within the council to design a way of tracking the perpetrators to bring them to justice.

Speaking to newsmen, Ushafa said the meeting became imperative in view of security challenges in the community and the need to end them.

This, according to him, is different from a vigilante group that has been pepped-up to curtail the situation.

He said: “We see the need to meet with our traditional rulers who are stakeholders from various communities to discuss a way forward in this matter because the killing is more and we asked ourselves how do we stop it! So, we resolved to go back to our old model, people who are looking suspicious within the community should be reported so that security measure can be taken. It is a directive from the Minister of FCT.

“Anybody looking suspicious should reported by the landlord or landlady to the local chief and the local chief in turn report to the appropriate authorities for measure to be taken.

“This is one of the measures; there are other measures that can be taken to tackle security challenges in the community but let’s have our measures secretly and get it done; there are security agents including vigilante that are working.

“We have two black spots in the area, they are Mpape and Deidei and we are working on them; we are working in collaboration with security agencies; we are doing our best but..”

Ushafa also flagged-off another programme tagged free intensive medical service for 5,000 people which is aimed at improving the health service provision for the people in the council; this is also being done to augment five permanent health centres established under Millennium Development Goals, MDGs in the council.

The Coordinator of the Centre for Prevention of HIV/AIDS and Community Health (CENPHAC), Dr. Okey Obi said, “they volunteered their expertise to complement the efforts of government at all levels in improving critical health services to the poor and vulnerable in the society.

“It is sad to know that, according to WHO, in 2006, about 10 per cent of the world’s diseases’ burden is in Nigeria. Also Nigerians have a life expectancy as low as 45-50 years. Considering the enormous human and natural resources the almighty God has endowed us with, this is unacceptable. We ought not have these abysmal poor health indices.

“It is this pathetic scenario that motivated CENPHAC to organise this laudable programme in Bwari to help reverse these negative development indicators and to ensure the attainment of health related MDGs by 2015 in Nigeria.”