Emmanuel Thomas l Sunday, April 11, 2021
OWERRI, Imo, Nigeria – South East Governors on Sunday reacted to reports of insecurity in the region by floating its own security outfit called Ebube Agu, with its Headquarters in Enugu to coordinate its activities in the South East. The governors also outlawed open grazing in the region, which has been the cause of conflicts between headers and farmers.
The governors called on security operatives in the region to enforce the ban on open grazing. The governors made the decision known in a communiqué read out to reporters by Governor of Ebonyi State, Mr. David Umahi at the end of the South East Governors Summit in Owerri, Imo State.
The governors resolved to strongly and unequivocally condemn terrorism and banditry in any part of Nigeria, particularly in the South East. The meeting strongly condemns the burning of police stations, violent attacks on custodial centres with the unlawful release of inmates, and the killings including security personnel, natives/ farmers and herdsmen .
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 governors also resolved that the political leadership in the South East will bring together all the arsenals at their command, as one united zone, to fight and flush out criminals and terrorist from the zone.
“That the summit resolved that to achieve this, there is a need to galvanise all the relevant stakeholders in the south east, the political class, the business community, the bureaucrats and the intelligentsia to provide all necessary support to security operatives in the five south east states to ensure total success in the fight against criminality in the zone”, the communiqué said.
That governors also resolved to exchange intelligence in a seamless, effective new order that will help to checkmate crime in the zone and mandated head of security agencies in the zone 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.
They also resolved that a committee made up of security personnel, government officials and relevant stakeholders be set up to coordinate and monitor the implementation of the south east joint security platform.
The meeting resolved to maintain a joint security vigilante for the South East otherwise known as Ebube Agu, with its headquarters in Enugu. The South East Governors requested the Acting IGP to stop the influx of IGP monitory units but to allow cps and state and Zonal commands to handle their cases.
The meeting approve that the acting IGP and other security chiefs do invite the leadership of Ohaneze Ndigbo and CAN to find out the reason for increasing insecurity of the South East .
The meeting agreed that military policing in the South East should be adequately funded and become effective. “The meeting agreed that open grazing has been banned and security agency should implement the ban. The meeting encouraged a peaceful coexistence of farmers and headers to allow Governors to succeed in the fight against criminality”, the governors said.
