BY AGNES NWORIE, ABAKALIKI
FOLLOWING rising insecurity in the South Eastern part of Nigeria, the South East Governors, leaders and heads of security agencies have agreed to set up a joint vigilante security network, known as Ebubeagu.
The stakeholders made this known in a communique issued after the first South East security summit held in Owerri on Sunday, 11th April 2021.
The stakeholders urged the acting IGP to stop the influx of IGP monitoring units but allow states and zonal commands to handle their cases.
The Governors, led by the Chairman of the South East Governors’ Forum, David Umahi, charged security agencies to embark on strict enforcement of the ban on open grazing in all nooks and crannies of the agrarian zone.
The people also called for adequate funding and activation of military policing in the zone.
After exhaustive discussions on the challenges in the South East and with valuable contributions from participants at the first South-East security summit in Owerri on this day Sunday, April 11, 2021, the stakeholders resolved “to strongly and unequivocally condemn terrorism and banditry in any part of Nigeria, particularly in the South East.”
The communique said, “The meeting strongly condemned the burning of police stations, violent attacks on custodial centers with the unlawful release of inmates, and killings, including security personnel, natives/ farmers and headsmen.
“That the five South-East states are on the same page with the Federal Government on the issue of security challenges in the country. To this end, the meeting makes it clear that the South-East will stand resolutely with the Federal Government to fight terrorists and bandits to the finish.
“That the political leadership in the South-East has resolved to bring together all the arsenals at their command, as one united zone, to fight and flush out criminals and terrorists from the zone.
“That the summit resolved that to achieve this, there is a need to galvanize all the relevant stakeholders in the South-East, the political class, the business community, the bureaucrats and the intelligentsia to provide all necessary support to security operatives in the five South-East states to ensure total success in the fight against criminality in the zone.
“That the heads of all the security agencies in the South-East have resolved to exchange intelligence in a seamless, effective new order that will help to checkmate crime in the zone.
“That to fast-track crime-busting in the South-East, the heads of security agencies have been mandated to draw up a comprehensive list of their logistics and material needs for sustainable success in the fight against criminality, for the immediate provision by the leadership of the South-East.
“That a committee made up of security personnel, government officials and relevant stakeholders is to be set up to coordinate and monitor the implementation of the South-East joint security platform.
“To applaud the initiative of the South-East security summit and to make it a statutory summit that will convene every quarter while its hosting shall rotate among the five South-East states.”
The meeting resolved to maintain a joint security vigilante for the South East otherwise known as Ebubeagu Joint Security Network.
