The Senator, representing Anambra South Senatorial District, Ifeanyi Ubah, on Monday, presented no fewer than 14 Toyota Sienna vehicles, 40 motorcycles, over 100 walkie-talkies and other security gadgets to vigilance groups and neighbourhood security watch in Nnewi, Anambra State.
Ubah said the gesture was part of efforts aimed at equipping and fortifying the local security operatives and empowering them in the fight against the rising insecurity in Nnewi and its environs.
This is coming barely six months after the senator’s convoy was attacked by gunmen at the Enugwu -Ukwu community in Njikoka Local Government Area of the state, which led to the death of some of his security aides.
He said, “The time has gone when armed robbers and criminals will be harassing law-abiding citizens in Nnewi and its environs. This time around, criminals will no longer have their normal field day both inside the bush and in the towns.
“We will employ men and women of sound character to work at the security control room from where the movement of people in and around the communities will be monitored through a Close Circuit Television network. The walkie-talkies are to enhance communication between the security network. The vehicles are to help in security patrol.”
In their separate speeches, the Anambra State Commissioner for Homeland Security, Chief Chikaodi Anara; and the Special Adviser to Governor Chukwuma Soludo on Security, Air Vice Marshal Ben Chiobi (retd.), lauded Senator Ubah for initiating the security fortification through his Nnewi Concerned Citizens initiative, a programme that they said is in line with Soludo’s quest for making Anambra a liveable and secured state.
Anara and Chiobi noted that Soludo’s administration is in a hurry to wield criminal elements and return the state to a state of peace and security where law-abiding citizens would feel free to go about their normal businesses without fear of harassment.
The highlight of the event was the distribution of torches, machetes, walkie-talkies, raincoats, and envelopes containing various sums of money to all the vigilante commanders and their operatives from the four quarters of Nnewi, including Otolo, Uruagu, Umudim and Nnewi-Ichi.
