ABUJA RESIDENTS JITTER AS INDEPENDENCE DAY APPROACHES.

Residents of Abuja have expressed apprehension of a possible terrorist attack during this year’s celebration of Nigeria’s independence on October 1.
At last year’s anniversary celebration, car bombs rocked the city in attacks that Niger Delta militant group, MEND, claimed responsibility for. Few days from now, the country will mark another Independence Day, yet the memory of last year’s attack and the subsequent ones that have been carried out by radical Islamic sect, Boko Haram, have given Abuja residents some source of concern as to whether there would be another strike.
Ambrose Egbi, a furniture maker at Kugbo, believes that Boko Haram will strike on Independence Day. “Though they are not the one that did that of last year’s Independence Day celebration, I think they will want to strike on October 1st because to me, they are fighting Jonathan’s administration and will do anything to bring him down,” he said.
When asked if he will go out with his family to celebrate on that day, he said: “I will not try it; me and my family will be indoors through-out the celebration because I know our security agencies will not do their work as required.”
Similarly, another resident, Ronke Oguleye, a civil servant, said she would have loved to go out with her family to celebrate but will prefer to stay indoors since crowded areas have been vulnerable over the past one year in the country.
“If they can penetrate the UN building, that means they are desperate to invade anywhere and anybody,” she said. “The security agencies should try and intensify their efforts in protecting us but I will stay safe with my family in my house as a means of protecting myself first.”
This fear also extends to parks and recreation centre’s operators who said they are putting all security measures in place to prevent any form of attack during the celebration.
“We are not ruling out any possibility of any form of attack by any group of persons in public places, but I can assure you that we are on top of it because we have been working with the police and other security agencies to make sure that such do not happen,” said Gorge Ebgai, an operator of a recreation centre in Garki area of the city.