The Independence Day bombing at the Eagle Square changed a lot of things.
There was a paradigm in the fight against crime in the Federal Capital Territory, which led to the introduction of stop-and-search.
The security strategy is deployed all over the territory and even in several parts of the country including Borno, Yobe and Gombe.
Although before the emergence of the present level of insecurity in the country, such operations were only visible at the boarders into states, highways or specific checkpoints, security operatives now stop vehicles for searching on streets and bends .
Residents in the capital have come to accept the policy because not only does it make citizens feel safe but also sometimes makes it difficult for criminals and terrorists to operate freely, like it was before security operatives began appearing at every turn.
One wonders though, if the security operatives at check points in street corners really get the work done by simply clutching their rifles, waving their torchlight and looking down their nose, bored by motorists and motorcycle operators and their passengers who have to push their motorcycles along while passengers carrying heavy luggage and body weight, stumble pass them, panting like people that just ran a marathon.
Most citizens have come to welcome the trend because, they will rather walk miles feeling the safety of someone significant watching over their backs than drive around freely with the fear of the unknown lurking in the shadows but some as expected, have something to say about it.
Mr Nonso, a boutique owner along Byazhin Road, Kubwa claimed that the security operatives do not actually check motorists and motorcycle operators, as is expected, but simply stand back pointing their torchlight at motorist, and any motorcyclist that makes the mistake of starting his car or bike before getting past them, is pulled over and his vehicle impounded.
He insisted that they do not bother checking cars properly or paying close attention to the motorcycles and their passengers who have been known to sometimes be treats and execute heinous crimes.
Daniel Samuel, an employee of the Federal Road Safety Commission, confirmed that the initiative is good for the country especially with the present level of insecurity that the country is facing but suggested that, security operatives, especially those on street corners in kubwa, add a little initiative to the job by changing their locations constantly instead of sticking to a particular spot.
Criminals, he said, will get accustomed to the locations and simply divert and take other routes and the aim will be defeated.
Some residents in the capital are beginning to find worrisome about the activities of the security operatives of stop and search at night.
A resident of Gwarimpa, Usifo Benjamin, an entrepreneur, in lending his voice to the trend, explained that the policy has overstayed its essence. The policy, he said, causes long traffic on the road, which makes movement at night difficult.
Another resident of Lugbe, who pleaded anonymity, lamented to our Abuja Review correspondent on the level of harassment residents go through in the hands of some of these security operatives.
According to her, security operatives harass drivers anytime they have the opportunity and some of them even talk like they own the city, she added.
With these experiences of residents in the federal capital, is it safe to say that stop and search activities of security operatives in the capital has achieved its aim? Is it time to do away with it? The commissioner of police of the Federal Capital Territory, Olufemi Olubade, has an answer.
The Police chief explained that since the introduction of stop and search policy, crime rates in the capital have reduced.
He alluded the reduction in the cases of snatched cars in the capital to the constant presence of security operatives at various checkpoints.
He lamented some highhandedness of some of the security operatives to lack of proper training; adding that many of the security operatives are undergoing training in order to serve residents of the capital better.
