Worried by the heightening state of insecurity in South East, the traditional ruler of Ibagwa Nike in Enugu East local government area of Enugu state, Igwe Ugwu Emmanuel, has called the people of the zone to give the needed support to the new security outfit recently announced by the governors of the South East zone.
The monarch spoke in Enugu while reacting to the incessant killing of police officers and other security challenges confronting the zone.
He said he knew the new security outfit as part of community policing structure capable of guarding every nook and cranny of the state, while appealing to those behind the killing of security operatives in the zone to retrace their steps.
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He said there was need for other community policing outfits to be accountable to somebody
“I believe that what we need in this part of the country is people who are accountable to the leadership of the zone and, of course, we all know that the moment you elect a governor, he is the chief security officer of that state, to be in charge of the state. The moment you elect a local government chairman, he becomes in charge of the local government affairs.
“I am a traditional ruler and I am in charge of my community. If anything happens in my community, the governor knows who to call; if anything happens in Enugu, the commissioner of police will give report in police structure of what happened.
“If there is no police commissioner in Enugu state, you will have no body to hold responsible for any misconduct of any police officer in the state.
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“I believe the governors of various states are empowered constitutionally as chief security officers of their various states to form a security outfit to protect lives and property
“But if you ask me, EBUBEAGU is not out to hurt anybody but what is important is to get all hands on deck in protection of lives and property.
“Security is all about you protecting others and others protecting you; it is a two ways thing. It is not you protecting people and no one protecting you.
He condemned the unknown group of people burning police divisions and destroying property, insisting that they were only destroying things belonging to them.
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“I was a member of the Enugu state Administrative panel of inquiry during the EndSars protest and I know what happened, when some of the youths who protested were asked why they protested, some of them were not even able to say why they protested.
He further expressed dismay that law enforcement agencies were being targeted in the killings, saying there was need for people to understand what security is all about.
“If you kill all the police officers assuming, who is next? I don’t understand the philosophy of killing police officers all in the name of getting arms.
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“The person you are killing is someone created by God; if you protect me, I will protect you.
“The issues is that the police are not being protected; the police are being charged to protect lives and properties but, now, it is obvious that they are not being protected.
By Millicent Onaga, Enugu