SECURITY: Enugu Govt Signs State Forest Guard Act Into Law

Leaders of Thought in Enugu State, comprising traditional rulers, religious and opinion leaders, among others, on Thursday, rose from a closed-door meeting with Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, and passed a vote of confidence in the governor for the way he has been discharging his responsibilities in the state as the Chief Security Officer.

Addressing newsmen after the meeting, the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, said that they took brief from Gov. Ugwuanyi on the recent security developments in the state as well as the actions taken by his administration to arrest the situation and ensure that the state remains safe and peaceful.

Chief Nwodo who disclosed that all those present at the meeting have reaffirmed their conviction to continue to support Gov. Ugwuanyi’s good works in ensuring that the state remains one of the safest in the country, added that the governor informed them that “he has given a directive to all the Local Government Chairmen to rejig our security architecture in consultation with the traditional rulers and Presidents-General of town unions”.

The President-General further disclosed that Gov. Ugwuanyi, who at the meeting, signed the Enugu State Forest Guard Act, 2020, enacted by the State House of Assembly, into Law and directed the council chairmen to ensure the effective operations of the law, also “briefed us about herdsmen activities in some of the local government areas and actions taken in consultations with the security agencies to show them the way out of those areas that these have occurred”

Chief Nwodo revealed that the governor told them how the State Security Council deliberated in details, the recent civil disturbances in the state, and reassured them that “the state government will do everything in its powers to see that whoever was found to have not acted in conformity with the law will be adequately dealt with”.

Justifying the vote of confidence, the President-General of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, said: “In the last few days, an economic review of the state has shown that out of the six most viable states in Nigeria, Enugu State is one of them. The viability of each state was recorded on the basis of their capacity to generate enough internally generated revenue to sustain their recurrent expenditure without dependence on federal allocations.

“If Enugu State government can attract businessmen to come to the state and pay taxes, then Enugu must be investment friendly. To be investment friendly, Enugu must be safe. And this credit goes to our state governor and his team.

“And we felt we should move a vote of confidence and tell him that we are proud of the way he is discharging his responsibilities. And we urged him to continue to be doing what he has been doing.

“On our part, every community leader, every traditional ruler, every President-General of town unions, all schools represented by their heads here have re-enforced; all the bishops, clergymen have re-enforced their conviction that they must continue to support this good work to ensure that our state remains one of the safest states in Nigeria”.

By Joan Eze