South-East Sets Up Ebube Agu to Tackle Insecurity
Governors of Nigeria’s five South East states have announced the formation of a regional security outfit, Ebube Agu and insisted that open grazing has been banned in the region.
The disclosure was made in a communique issued at the end of their meeting in Owerri, the Imo State capital on Sunday.
The meeting was attended by the governors of the five states, heads of security agencies within the zone, Ohanaeze Ndigbo amongst others.
They revealed that Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has provided his state as the operational headquarters for the outfit.
Other resolutions reached include sharing of information amongst the heads of all the security agencies in the south east to ensure a seamless and effective new order that will help to checkmate crime in the zone.
The governors called on the Acting Inspector General of Police to stop the influx of IGP monitoring units but to allow state commissioners of police and zonal commands to handle their cases.
They said they had resolved to bring together all the arsenals at their commands, as one united zone, to fight and flush out criminals and terrorists from the zone.
The meeting condemned the burning of police stations, violent attacks on custodial centres with the unlawful release of inmates, and the killings of security personnel, natives, farmers and herdsmen.
“That the five south east states are on the same page with the federal government on the issue of security challenges in the country. To this end, the meeting makes it absolutely clear that the south east will stand resolutely with the federal government to fight terrorists and bandits to a finish,” the communique read in part.
According to them, to fast track crime-busting in the south east, the heads of security agencies, “Have been mandated to draw up a comprehensive list of their logistics and material needs for sustainable success in the fight against criminality, for the immediate provision by the leadership of the South East”.