Ikpeazu seeks South East governors’ collaboration to check trans-border crimes

Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, yesterday, canvassed synergy among Southeast governors to effectively check cross-border crimes in the region.

Ikpeazu, who made the call at the launch of the Abia State Security Fund and commencement of the Security Support and Residents’ Card, urged residents of the state not only to help drive the initiative by enrolling and obtaining their cards, but also identify genuine residents.

He commended former Governor Theodore Orji for initiating the programme, when he was governor, describing the initiative as a platform to help raise financial support for the security architecture to secure the life and property of Abia people and residents.

He noted that Abia was at the centre of seven states in the Southeast and South-South with security challenges as being witnessed in the state and other parts of the country.

Speaking, Orji deplored the kidnapping, banditry, farmer-herder clashes among others and applauded Ikpeazu for his efforts at tackling them, stressing the need for all to support the government’s efforts to achieve adequate security of the state.

Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyị, who was represented by of Matthew Oboechi, stressed the need for synergy among the governors and security agencies in the Southeast as well as information sharing among the security agencies.

He also restated the necessity for other states and their security apparatuses being instituted to help the region overcome its security challenges and lauded Ikpeazu for taking the step forward to enhance security and better secure Abia State.
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Coordinator of the Abia State Security Fund, Darlington Anyanwu, who gave an overview of the Security Support and Resident Card, said the initiative was aimed at sourcing funds and equipment from stakeholders to support and complement the state government’s efforts in providing adequate security to Abia residents.

He said it was also to ensure that all security agencies perform their statutory role efficiently and effectively without hitches.

Anyanwu explained that the Abia State Social Identity Number earlier launched by the state government was different from the Security Support and Resident Card.

He added that the former was geared towards collating statistics from all residents of the state for planning, addressing unemployment and demographic distribution of infrastructure and resources, among others.