…Pledges to stamp out insecurity
The Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah has inaugurated members of Enugu State Security Trust Fund to strengthen the security apparatus existing in the state.
Mbah, while performing the inauguration of the 11-member trust fund at the Enugu Government House, said it was in line with his administration’s campaign promise and efforts to build on the successes achieved in the security of lives and property in the state.
The governor commended the members for accepting to serve the state with their wealth of experience and contacts. He projected the state’s security expenditure for 2024 to be N20bn, emphasizing that the government was counting on private sector support in that regard.
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“The Security Trust Fund is in line with what we have expressed in our manifesto when we were seeking the mandate of our people to serve them. We promised them that Enugu will be one of the top three states in terms of GDP and of course, we said it was going to happen from private sector investment, and attracting private sector investment requires that you have the enabling environment.
“This was why we immediately made certain consequential pronouncements and took emphatic steps in addressing our insecurity challenges. We set up the Distress Response Squad. We are deploying CCTV across our city, and making sure that we have a central Command and Control Centre where we can monitor all that is going on and prevent crimes.
“We work to prevent crimes but have also put in place adequate measures and facilities to be able to identify, track, capture and defeat the criminals involved if there is any breach of security of any kind.
“So, the inauguration of this Security Trust Fund today is going to redouble our efforts in the fight against insecurity in the state,” Mbah said.
The Trust Fund is chaired by Ike Chioke, an Investment Banker and Group Managing Director of Afrinvest Trustees Limited, while Chinedu Anih was appointed the Executive Secretary.
Members include Nathaniel Udeh and Chris Ekemezie representing the private sector; Commissioner for Human Capital and Poverty Eradication, Malachy Agbo, and Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Dame Ugochi Madueke, representing the state; the State Director, Department of State Security, Theresa Egbunu and the Garrison Commander, 82 Division, Nigerian Army, Enugu, Murtala Abu, representing the security organisations.
Others are ACP (Rtd.) Ifeanyi Nwafor; Igwe Lawrence Agubuzu representing the Chairman of Enugu State Council of Traditional Rulers as well as the Anglican Bishop of Nike Diocese, Bishop Onyeka Onyia and the Vice Chancellor of the Godfrey Okoye University, Christian Aneke, representing the religious institutions.
Speaking on behalf of other members, the BOT Chairman, Ike Chioke, commended the Mbah administration for containing insecurity in the state, and for activating the Security Trust Fund four years after it was signed into law.
“We are witnessing something that should have happened, perhaps four years ago when the law establishing the Enugu State Security Trust Fund was actually passed. But without the BOT, it was not possible to action it.
“However, under your leadership, we have seen the amazing work you have done in calming down issues of insecurity in our state. We are witnessing the fact that we can now move around freely on Mondays. But taking further steps of setting up the BOT of the Enugu State Security Trust Fund gives additional impetus to your commitment to make sure Enugu is safe for business and our citizens here,” he stated.
