Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State, yesterday, said his government would compensate families of security agents killed by unknown gunmen in line of duty.
Speaking when received the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 9, Etim Okon, in Abakaliki, the governor pledged continued assistance to the force for result.
Umahi, who decried the insecurity in the state, accused the opposition of “sponsoring killings and attacks on government facilities just to discredit my government.”
He stated that the perpetrators were known, urging the police and other security agencies to “go after them without delay.
The governor promised sustained support to Ebube Agu Security Network and others for better living in the state.
Umahi decried the “continued marginalisation of the zone by the Federal Government, as it is the reason for the unrest in the region.”
He continued: “Let me condemn very seriously the killing of security agencies. I have said it severally the burning of police stations.
“Let me tell the AIG that Nigeria played into the hands of our restive youths because there were a number of demands they were making. There were agitations about the way the South East is being treated at the national level and when those are repeated, then our people bought the impression that they are fighting for the welfare of our people.”
Umahi went on: “They are fighting for our security, especially when people are few from this side to be promoted at the national level and are not promoted rightly or wrongly. When we are not given the opportunity to be part of the security hierarchy of the nation.
“So, the impression here is that we are not welcomed here in Nigeria. It has given the governors a very serious task with regards to this and I am sure security agencies know this because it seems a number of people, especially those who are aggrieved with government, are tactically supporting them.
“But we the governors in South East believe in one Nigeria where fairness, equity justice and fair play take place. We do not want to secede as a people. We want to be treated nicely just like other regions, and this is a fact.”
