Abia: Orji unfolds plans to end insecurity

At a point, Abia State was seen as home for kidnappers and rapists. Now, the state governor claims the darkness in the land has been lifted. Correspondent UGOCHUKWU UGORJI-EKE reports the strategies and tactics that made the feat possible. He also reports new plans to secure lives and property in the state.

When in 2007 the incumbent governor of Abia State, Chief Theodore Orji, assumed office, the state was peaceful. There were few major security challenges. Then, he did not need to spend so much on security. But the serene atmosphere changed r few months into his first tenure. And it happened in a very dramatic way.

His convoy was attacked on its way to Port Harcourt airport to pick him and his wife, Mercy. The manner of the attack was so violent and spontaneous that one of the governor’s back up SUV was snatched, though later abandoned somewhere near Obigbo in Rivers State.

Some of the cars on that convoy were riddled with bullet holes, while others were vandalized beyond repair. That attack could be said to mark the beginning of violent crimes in the state. It did not just begin in a big fashion; it literally went into overdrive. At the time, violent crime in the state was not just restricted to armed robbery; kidnapping became a regular occurrence, dwarfing armed robbery. Besides, there was a penchant for raping female victims of any age as a signature and encore of the crime.

Expectedly, this became a source of worry and sleepless nights for Orji. It was learnt that he spent nights upon nights trying to find solutions to the problem, which became overwhelming, causing the state to lie almost prostrate.

At its height, the ‘exploit and audacity’ of the kidnappers cut global attention when 15 innocent pupils of a private and secondary schools of Abayi, Aba, were kidnapped while going to school and kept for about four days though later released when the security agents closed in on the hoodlums.

Governor Orji, however, consulted wide and finally asked the President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan to assist the state by allowing soldiers to come into the state and help other security agents to fight the kidnapping and armed robbery menace. Jonathan consented and directed almost with dispatch the Chief of Army Staff to move into the state, restore order and save the state from total collapse.

Since the army, navy, SSS, police and other security agencies moved into the state, Governor Orji has not relented in donating patrol vans to them to aid them in the performance of their duties. As at the last count the governor has given out about 500 vans to all the security agencies and still ready to do more.

Analysts say but for the doggedness of the governor in tackling head on the security issue in the state, it would have been difficult to hold the 2011 general election in the state. They also believe that had it been in the days of the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, Abia would have been the first South East state to record an emergency rule.

They also say that Orji’s moves, contacting the necessary authorities secretly and without making much noise have changed the face of the state politically by ensuring that the security menace was tackled headlong.

In one of the occasions when the governor donated patrol vans to the police, the Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Abubakar called on governors in the country to emulate Orji by partnering with security agencies to fight crimes in the various states and by extension the country.

Speaking in Umuahia while receiving 30 patrol vans fully equipped with modern gadgets donated by the state government to the police, Abubakar said that Governor Orji has shown the light for others to follow and assured that the police will reciprocate by securing the state.

Abubakar said by the constant donation of patrol vans by the governor, he has shown that he cares for his people and ready to give logistic support to the security agencies operating in the state to secure the lives and property of the people.

The acting IGP assured the people of the state and Nigerians in general that the present police administration is determined to fulfill its constitutional obligation of protecting the people of the country irrespective of religion or ethnic inclination.

He said, "The police we have now is the one that will respect the law, assist the children when in difficulty and others without any room for corruption, while all suspects should be given their right except when convicted by a law court".

Abubakar, however, charged officers and men of the police that will handle the vans to remember that they are not for their private use. "You are expected to use these patrol vans for purely operational duties and not to carry your wives and children".

The acting IGP urged the people of the state to help him monitor the police when they start using the patrol vans, "if any of them uses the vans recklessly please do not hesitate to inform us and any police officer caught flouting this directive will have himself to blame".

He assured the governor that the activities of the ragtag team of dissidents who have been forced to leave kidnapping and armed robbery to go into the breaking of oil pipeline and stealing of oil to start illegal refinery are over.

Earlier in his speech while handing over the patrol vans, Governor Orji said that his administration will never stop partnering with all security agencies to sustain the security of the state which was not obtained on a platter of gold. Orji said "Last week we gave out 25 vans to the military, later 5 to the SSS and now the IGP is here to receive 30 for the police as it is his constituency".

The governor said that any responsible government should not toy with the issue of security of its people, "that is why we are doing what we are doing which is to equip the security agencies in the state to help us secure our state.

"Governors and their aides cannot fight kidnappers and armed robbers, but the security agencies are comfortable in that area, as they are trained to fight crimes. Our job, therefore, will be to help them with logistics so that they will do their work well".

He told the IGP that what is happening in the country should be a challenge to his office, adding that he should face the challenges headlong, "be it armed robbery, kidnapping or Boko-Haram, the policed should face them squarely without fear".

The governor urged the IGP to help the state combat the issue of pipeline vandalism, stressing that they have tarnished the image of the state and also reduce the monthly allocation of the state from the federation account.

The governor did not just stop with the Police, he also donated 25 patrol vans fully equipped with security and communication gadgets to the 14 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Ohafia, to help them in checking all forms of criminal activities in the state.

Speaking in Umuahia while giving out the vans to the Commander of the 14 Brigade, Nigerian Army, General Jubrin Tanko Abubakar, Orji said that giving patrol vans to the security agencies in the state has become an annual event for the state government and that he has no regrets doing that.

He said that the patrol vans will help them secure the state, stressing that the state has advanced in security network and that, "it is now time to sustain the peace and security has been going on in the state".

He urged the military to ensure that armed robbery and kidnapping which have been practically eradicated in the state, do not come back. He added that all the security lapses noticed by them should be addressed so that criminal activities do not return to the state.

"It is in the bid to put a stop to the activities of criminals in the state that prompted my administration to donate the patrol vans to the military, since we know that you people need it for effective operation, including other logistics.

"Most of the kidnappers and armed robbers who have been dislodged in the state have become oil pipeline vandals and turned our state into a haven for illegal refineries and they are giving us a bad image and helping to reduce our financial allocation from federal government".

Receiving the vans, General Abubakar said that the army under 82 Division is ever happy with the state government, and assured the governor and the people of the state that there will be zero tolerance for all forms of criminal activities in the state.

"Though criminal activities in the state and their likes have been flushed out in Aba, who has turned their attention towards pipeline vandalism, I want to tell them that their time of operations in the state is over".

He, however, appealed to the people of the state to compliment the efforts of the governor, by giving them information. "When we are given information, we will go extra mile to do our job, as we cannot operate in isolation".

Earlier in the year, other security agencies like SSS, NSCDC and the Navy were also given 18 Ford Ranger four wheel drive double cabin vans. The aim was to ensure that the security agencies operate at optimum level.

Speaking in Umuahia, Orji said that the vehicles were for the Navy, State Security Services (SSS) and the Civil Defence Corps and meant to compliment their efforts at ridding the state of criminals.

Orji said that the security agencies in the state were wonderful when the criminals and kidnappers nearly overwhelmed the state government operatives, stressing that his administration cannot afford to go back to that era, "which is why we are donating these vehicles to them for their operations".

He said that the security agencies in the state fought a serious battle to liberate the state from the hands of criminals.

"It is a situation we cannot afford to go back to and we want to assure our people coming back for Christmas that the state is safe for them now and after.

"This is the first phase of the donation of vans to security agencies in the state and it will be a continuous exercise, as we have noticed that the vehicles they have are not enough for their effective operations in the state".

The question many people have been asking is where would Abia State have been if Orji had not taken the bull by the horns to confront frontally the issue of insecurity in the state?source : http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/politics/52853-abia-orji-unfolds-plans-to-end-insecurity.html

One of the 5 laptops in Umuahia

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