Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has assured residents and visitors carrying on businesses in the state of their safety, stressing that his administration had already placed security agencies on the highest level of alert to forestall security breaches and safeguard their lives and property.
The governor who further enjoined them to erase everything about sit-at-home in the state from their memories, said the government was doing everything necessary to liaise with other neighbouring states in order to dislodge criminals from all their hideouts.
Mbah gave these assurances on Thursday in Enugu at a meeting with the Presidents-General (PGs) of all the autonomous communities in the state, even as they pledged their support to end the illegal sit-at-home order being enforced by hoodlums and make the state attractive to investors.
He bemoaned the devastating impacts of the unlawful sit-at-home, such as impoverishing citizens and scaring potential investors, saying that his administration would deal ruthlessly with criminal elements disturbing the peace of the state.
According to him, there’s a connection between sit-at-home and poverty among the people, warning that security operatives would continue to strike hooligans victimizing the public over a wrong and unjustifiable cause.
He wondered why those sitting in the comfort of their homes somewhere overseas would be hurting innocent people in a sponsored bid to destabilise the region, saying it’s only those living in the delusion that would hide under the guise of fighting for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s release to commit atrocities.
Mbah reiterated his resolve to make the state attractive for private investors, create jobs, train the youths on digital transformation, and restore the lost glory the state was known for through his programmes and policies.
“It is time to take ownership of our future. It’s time to say enough is enough to this menace because we’re using the sit-at-home to marginalise ourselves. How does this illegal sit-at-home by criminals affect the Federal Government or the economic planning in Abuja? Don’t be deceived by people who want to make you believe they’re fighting for your cause. They’re criminals sponsored to destabilise our state, our region and our people. We must resist them and say, enough is enough. We must erase everything about sit-at-home from our memories and go back to our culture of industry, creativity and commerce.
“We did say to you that we have plans to move the state from a public sector to a private sector-driven economy by growing the gross domestic product sevenfold. We can only achieve this humongous and ambitious plan in an atmosphere of peace and security.
“So I call on you to galvanize your communities and take the message to them that there is no such thing as sit-at-home whether it is on Monday or any other day.
“With our resolve here today, we can collectively end sit-at-home by overcoming fear and by not allowing anyone to make us inferior without our consent.
“With peace and security, we can generate enough wealth, create employment, engage our people meaningfully, and achieve our promises to the people,” the governor added.
Responding to the governor, Sir Eze Solomon, one of the PGs who spoke on behalf of the association of town unions in Enugu West Senatorial Zone, commended the governor for his proactive approach to curbing insecurity and ensuring citizens were protected from hoodlums.
He, however, lamented the dearth of police presence in rural communities, urging the state to deploy more numbers of security agencies to strengthen the confidence of the people.
On his part, Dr. Barth Nwankwo, appreciated Mbah for the plans and policies his administration had rolled out just a few days in office, maintaining that they were ready to partner with both the state government and the local government to flush out marauders in their localities.
While taking turns to talk, Hon. Isaac Onyia, Hon. Ejike Iloh, Hon. Ogbodo Arinze, Chief Bony Edeh and Barr. Paully Eze urged the governor to embark on an aggressive sensitisation programme, particularly in rural areas to educate the people on the need to go about their normal businesses as sit-at-home had become a thing of the past.
“We want to assure the governor that we are in support of the decision to end sit-at-home and we will work to deliver on that,” they said.
The PGs further appealed to the governor to reorganise, train, equip and strengthen community policing through Neighbourhood Watch, Forest Guard and vigilante groups.
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