EBONYI LAUNCHES SECURITY TASKFORCE, DONATES 10 VANS TO ARMY & POLICE

REPORTER: AMECHI ODO

Ebonyi State Government has established a joint security taskforce to curtail the activities of hoodlums and other criminal elements in the state.

Governor Francis Nwifuru announced this at the Government House Abakaliki during the distribution of security vans to the Nigerian Army and the Police.

In the last three months, at least nine police operatives and two civilians had been shot dead by suspected hoodlums targeting police check points mounted at strategic roads within the outskirts of Abakaliki metropolis.

Also disturbing is the activity of kidnappers operating at Idodo-Nkalagu boundary axis on Enugu-Abakaliki Expressway with some commuters losing their lives and others paying ransom to secure their freedom when kidnapped.

Governor Nwifuru represented by his Deputy, Princess Patricia Obila, said the taskforce and the ten Hilux vans distributed to the security agencies were demonstrations of government’s determination to end criminality in the state.

The Commissioner of Police in the State, Mrs. Augustina Ogbodo, and the Commander Nkwagu Military Cantonment, Lt Col. Audu Bako, commended the state government for the measures put in place, noting that it would enhance their response time to criminal breaches.

The Commissioner for Internal Security in the State, Prince Eta Uka Ude, noted that the joint taskforce codenamed IJEOMA was designed to ensure that everyone embraced peace in the state.

Radio Nigeria gathered that members of the Taskforce would be provided with special allowance to enable them to focus on the assignment.

EDITED BY CHUKWUBUIKE MADU