……as Assembly convenes security council meeting to brainstorm on way forward
By Lucky Isibor
The Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Blessing Sheriff Agbebaku has disclosed that the state government is awaiting the arrival of eight bullet proof buffalo trucks for security patrol ordered by Governor Monday Okpebholo which will be deployed across the three Senatorial Districts to checkmate the activities of kidnappers and other criminal elements in the state, adding that two have already arrived.
Agbabaku stated this in his opening remarks at the opening of a security meeting of members of the Edo State Security Council convened by the House Committee on Security and Public Safety chaired by Rt. Hon. Marie Omozele Oligbi-Edeko on Wednesday, 3 December at the Edo State House of Assembly.
While expressing optimism that the meeting will strengthen the security of lives and property in the state, Hon. Agbebaku tasked members of the public to always avail security agencies information that will enable them nip crimes in the bud and appealed to Honourable members of the Assembly to continue to enlighten their constituents on the need to assist security agencies with information that will render criminals ineffective in their evil enterprise.
While appreciating the various security agencies, Agbebaku called for seamless collaboration between all the various security agencies.
“Firstly, let me commend you all for your efforts. You are doing your best. We expect you to do more. The House is ready to collaborate with all the security agencies to ensure our state is free of crime. Though it cannot be free completely, but to an extent that our people will sleep with their eyes closed.
Recent happenings are so worrisome that there’s the need for us to interact. We urge you to do your bit and we as a people will also do our bit. Security agents are human and not magicians, we the people need to give them information for them to operate with. In fact we are supposed to do the most important part of providing security, we the people in the different communities, in the different villages to feed the security agencies with useful information to operate. For instance when you see a strange face in your environment who has not been in that environment before, please endeavour to report, and we as members of the House we’ll also need to do a lot of job by orientating our people in our various constituencies that should always report suspicious and strange movements in their area to security agents. The DPOs, civil defence and others are there, when you see clandestine movements in your area, please report to security agencies in the area.
“I hope this meeting will strengthen the security of our state.
I want to use this opportunity to thank the Governor for providing every necessary apparatus for you people to succeed. The governor is doing his best to make sure the issue of kidnapping is laid me to rest very soon. I know that these buffalo bullet proof trucks have been ordered by the Governor. This will enable security agents to confront kidnappers inside the vehicle and bullets cannot penetrate the vehicles. They’ll be distributed to the three Senatorial Districts. We’re expecting ten, two have arrived.”
Briefing newsmen after the meeting, the chairperson of the House Committee on security and convener of the meeting, Rt. Hon Marie Omozele Oligbi-Edeko pointed out that the House was intentional in calling for the meeting to give a practical approach to the issue of security as the Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo has done a lot in the security sector since his assumption of office.
Honourable Oligbi-Edeko pointed out that decisions arrived on how to tackle the new approach of criminals to crime and criminality, emerging crimes hitherto unknown such those in mining areas and how security agencies will collaborate and work in synergy.
“We were very intentional in calling this meeting comprising critical stakeholders in the state security sector, to give practical approach to the issue of security given that the state Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo has done a lot in the security sector since assumption of office. What we have done today is to seek collaboration, we want collaboration, we want synergy between the various security agencies, we want them to work together to tackle insecurity. We want to adopt the same approach for policing in the state so that in Edo South, Edo Central, Edo North, you’ll find the same structure in place. The police will take the lead and in the team we’ll have the Nigerian Army, the Edo State Security network (Vigilante), then the hunters. Everybody will be working in synergy.
“We discussed the new approaches of criminals, where kidnappers now adopt people at home and how to tackle them. We looked at neighbourhood watch, the place of modern security technology, that’s why we invited the security agencies because they’re the ones to do the work, to give the blue print on how they’re going to address the issues. They also told us their challenges. As we are in the process of making a budget these will give us insight on how we can assist to ensure they have adequate facilities to drive the strategies we have put together today and if there are areas we’re going to make new laws to ensure the criminal elements are detected, we will do that. We have also identified emerging crimes in mining areas and how to tackle these pattern of crimes not known to us before now.”
The Commissioner of Police, Edo State Command, Monday Agbonika enumerated measures being put in place by the command to nip crimes in the bud during the yuletide. According to him the command has heightened its operations, put measures in place to generate more intelligence, routine raids on criminal hideouts, show of force among other measures.
The member representing Esan West Constituency, Hon. Jonathan Ibhamawu who is also a member of the House Committee on Security noted that the meeting was an opportunity to brainstorm on how to fight insecurity in the state, adding that intelligence gathering and strategies were discussed.
All the security agencies include the Police, Army, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Edo Fire Service, Edo State Forestry Commission, Commissioners for Security and Public Safety, Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, all the Mobil Police Formations in the state were in attendance at the meeting.