Gov Mba and the challenge of restoring security in Enugu

Although he inherited a state where kidnapping and killings thrived on assumption of office, Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has taken transformative steps aimed at addressing the challenge to the delight of residents, LAWRENCE NJOKU writes.

One thing that has challenged and eroded confidence in the economy of the Southeast region is the scale of insecurity that has enveloped the zone for some time now. The magnitude of the trend is such that it has made living difficult with rampant kidnappings, killings, organ harvesting and banditry even as businesses continue to suffer from attacks and unending sit-at-home orders.
The situation has seen some businesses in the region move to other areas outside the Southeast. The resultant effect was retarded economic growth and development with the attendant continual drop in revenues in the region.

Enugu State was not spared from the ugly development. In the state, it became a tradition that Mondays were work free days. Residents were getting used to doing businesses any other day save Mondays as shops, banks, government offices and educational institutions were locked up in the guise of sit-at-home.

This was even when the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which had earlier declared sit-at-home every Monday in solidarity with its incarcerated leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, had called it off and persuaded residents to go about their normal activities on that day. But the fear, the doubts about the ability of the security agencies to protect them made them stay indoors.

What was then funny and touchy though was the fact that church and community meetings, among other engagements, were fixed for Mondays, while many others turned to drinking joints in their neighbourhood for merry making.
When he assumed office last year, Governor Peter Mbah weighed the implication of the situation on the economy and raised the alarm that should it continue, the state would come crashing. He insisted that it was a bad omen that could sink any economy.

Mbah lamented that the state was losing N10 billion to the Monday sit-at-home, and vowed that his administration would stop at nothing to ensure that it did not continue.

“Those that strike on Mondays, putting restrictions in the way of our Igbo spirit of creativity, cannot be our true representatives. In fact, they kill our spirit.

“We know that our land is a fertile ground for commerce. However, businesses, entrepreneurship and commerce require a vibrant workforce and big markets where they can flourish and make money.

“To this end, therefore, from Monday, June 5, 2023, there will be no observance of any sit-at-home in all nooks and crannies of Enugu State. Government will enforce this with all the powers at its disposal,” Mbah stated then.

He then summoned a meeting of the heads of the security agencies in the state where he unveiled his plans to end insecurity and solicited their support for its actualisation. It was after this meeting that a marching order was handed down to civil servants to report to work on Mondays or lose their jobs while business owners were urged to return to their businesses with assurance of security.
The order by Mbah appeared to be the tonic that was needed to end the scourge. Since the order, the state now bubbles on Mondays. While the various markets open, banks and schools that were not opening before now operate. There has not been any report of an attack since the Monday sit-at-home was abolished in the state, even as the state government has continued to beef up security every Monday.

Indeed, since overcoming the initial hitches that attempted to thwart the effort to restore Monday activities, Mbah has continued to entrench policies, programmes and infrastructure to enhance security in the state.

From acquiring security vehicles with communication gadgets which were distributed to the various security departments, the governor has built  the Command and Control Centre with state-of-the-art equipment, including the acquisition of Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled cameras being installed across the state and on security vehicles.
The Guardian gathered that from the Centre, various criminal activities can be monitored and analysed, thereby making the job of the security agencies easier.
It was further gathered that it would no longer be easy for any criminal to operate in the state and not be caught as soon as the cameras being installed are completed and energised.

To stem the tide of kidnapping, the state government activated Section 315 of the state’s criminal code law, cap 30, which provides that, “building or structure owned by the offender or any other person, who knows or ought to reasonably know that the building or structure is so being used for that purpose, the building or structure shall be demolished or forfeited to the state government.”

The law, which was made by the last administration of the state, was not enforced until now.  So far, no fewer than seven multi-million naira properties belonging to individuals in the state have been demolished after it was established that they were being used to aid the crime in the state.
The state government did not stop at demolishing the property but also confiscated them for the government’s use.

Last week, the government took the initiative further with the launch of a N20 billion Security Trust Fund aimed at complementing its efforts in securing the state.
Chairman of the Security Fund, Dr. Ike Chioke, had highlighted how the fund would help to support Enugu’s pressing security needs, stressing that it would strengthen infrastructure and restore a sense of safety across communities.
Chioke stated that with the launch, indigenes and residents of the state have to contribute to ensure safety of the environment, just as he noted that there would be no development in an area without security.
Mbah had conceived the idea of the Fund earlier in the year, leading to the setting up of a committee to manage and run it. This is based on the governor’s belief that with contribution for security by all and sundry, the government would be in a position to do more for the people.

Irrespective of the efforts however, pockets of crimes have continued to thrive in the state. For instance, some criminal elements that had for long made movements difficult for people along the Opi-Nsukka, Ninth Mile-Ezeagu and Udi roads, among others, have continued in their activities.

Last week, stories had gone out that the Director of General Studies at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Prof. Oguejiofor Ujam, was kidnapped along the Opi-Nsukka road. He was, however, rescued less than 24 hours later.
In the same week, a trigger-happy Police Inspector, Joseph Ozonwanji, allegedly murdered a popular singer, Okezie Mba, popularly known as Igbo-jah.
The incident almost created chaos but for his timely arrest, detention and arraignment in court.

Nonetheless, a human rights activist, Brethren Ugwu, who reviewed the strides so far by the current administration of the state to restore security of lives and property, insisted that it was the only thing needed to revamp Enugu’s dying economy.
Ugwu, who stated that the state was blessed with abundant natural resources, stressed that inability to protect lives and property had hindered the development of other sectors of the state.

“If the governor is desirous of realising his $30 billion GDP, he must improve security. This is because you need all the investment you can think of to be able to realise that ambitious promise. No investor will go to an environment where he does not feel safe. They can only come when they feel that their investments are safe and secure; and with friendly tax policies,” he stated.

Another activist, Ifeanyi Nwalioba, had insisted that the governor had so far matched his words with action in terms of restoring security in the state.
Nwalioba, who recalled where the state was before May 2023, stated that insecurity would soon become a thing of the past should the government concentrate on its efforts.

“Enugu was a ghost town on Mondays because of fear of being attacked by unknown gunmen. Schools, markets, businesses of all kinds were usually under lock and key. It took someone who knew that those lost hours were difficult to recover to be able to tackle the monster.

“Enugu had observed sit-at-home since 2021 and anyone that speaks the truth will agree that the state benefited nothing from the exercise. We were rather losing our identity and losing revenues that should have gone into development. Businesses freely moved out of the state and what have you. Today, we can look back and say normalcy is returning and it is such that it will benefit the people. Moving round the state, you will discover the various security cameras that are being installed.  What it means is that what they have put in place is something that is sustainable going forward. Therefore, this will ultimately restore life and activities back to the state,” he stressed.

A Professor of International Law and Global Politics, Prof. Jehu Onyekwere, stated that Mbah has worked assiduously to restore security, urging him to consolidate his efforts to reduce crime to the barest minimum in the state.
Onyekwere, who scored the governor 80 per cent, stressed that he has in less than two years surpassed the expectations of residents, stressing that from ending Monday sit-at-home, he has improved security infrastructure to ensure the safety of all and sundry.

“He recently entered an agreement with an Austria firm on the use of technology to dictate and monitor crimes in the state. He has provided security officials with the needed facilities that would enable them to work. So, he is moving and not letting anything to chance. That is what it is supposed to be. When a leader says something, he moves to actualise it,” he stated.

Onyekwere stated that with what the governor has done so far, there would be a drastic reduction in crimes being committed in the state, stressing that, “residents should adopt the strategy of saying something when they see something” to help the government.

“If the residents are not collaborators, then Enugu as a place to live would have been achieved with the level of commitment the governor has shown in the fight against insecurity,” he added.