State Police: Oborevwori lauds Oshimili North council for establishing LG security watch

 

State Police: Oborevwori lauds Oshimili North council for establishing LG security watch 

By Ifeanyi Olannye 

Akwukwu-Igbo - Gov. Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta on Friday lauded Oshimili North Local Government Area for establishing Local Government Security Watch to ensure adequate security in the council area and in the state. 

The governor made the commendation during his remarks while declaring open a 2-Day Security Workshop with the theme, "Enhancing Grassroots Securities Through Strategic Partnership and Community Engagement", held at Akwukwu-Igbo.

Oborevwori, represented by Mr David Tonwe, Director-General State Security Operations, said the Council Chairman, Chief Innocent Esewezie has taking the lead ahead of other local governments to address security challenges.

While calling on other council chairmen to emulate Esewezie, the governor noted that security remains a collective responsibility of all citizens, adding that development could only thrive in a secured environment.

Oborevwori said: The intent of the workshop is to ensure strategic partnership and community engagement. 

"It is both timely and significant, it underscores the fact that security is a shared responsibility that requires the collective effort of governments, security agencies, traditional rulers, institutions, community leaders and citizens.

"Peace and security are indispensable

to sustainable development, therefore, initiatives such as this to provide value opportunities to deepen collaborations,

build trust, share experiences and develop practical strategy for our pressing emerging security challenges within our communities is timely.

"I commend the leadership of Oshimili North local government area for organising this function and urge all

participants to engage actively and constructively so that the workshop will yield meaningful outcomes for the benefit of our people".

"I want to commend Esewezie for the proactive steps taking to put the workshop together. It's timely, and I think that he is doing well and I want to encourage other local governments, chairmen to do the same.

Oborevwori described the profiling of the neighborhood watch operatives and equipping of its personnel with 20 motorcycle, and other gadgets as being proactive in checking insecurity in the LGA.

He said that Delta would become safer and more peaceful of all other local government council could emulate Oshimili North while urging the participants to engage and pay attention to the lecturer at the workshop.

Earlier in his opening address, Chief Innocent Esewezie, said that establishing the security watch was informed by the leadership support of President Bola Tinubu, Gov. Oborevwori and the National Assembly for the passage of the bill establishing State Police in country.

He said that the council has enlisted 150 of the vigilante operatives into the Delta State Health Insurance Scheme and also working out modalities to insure their livies in a competent insurance company as part of the welfare measures.

He also disclosed that council has sent in an executive bill to the legislative arm to ensure the vigilantes receive monthly stipend.

According to Esewezie, the establishment of the LG Security Watch is informed by the recently held Delta State Security Summit. 

"So, flowing from that summit we have decided to cascade into what our governor has done to ensure security of our environment.

"The essence of this workshop is that security is a shared responsibility.

"It is, therefore, a commitment upon all stakeholders in government, security agencies, traditional institutions, community leaders, civil society groups, and citizens to work together in confronting the ongoing security challenges of our time," Esewezie said. 

He said that the vigilantes would be deployed into all the communities to comb everywhere and the bushes to ensure that the entire communities are secured and peaceful.

In an interview, Mr Olisa Ifeajika, Executive Assistant to the Gov. Oborevwori on Public Enlightenment (Projects and Policies), said that security remains a responsibility of all, adding that all stakeholders must get involved to ensure a safer community. 

On State Police, Ifeajika said that Delta Government was ready and prepared for and waiting for the law to be passed for it to deepen the exiting structure in the state.

"We have the structure on ground, we have the Operation Sweep, others, we have it before, it is just to expand it. 

"Once the template on the state police comes out by the law, the state will go about it.

"Everybody wants it. It is for the homegrown people like you and I, we know ourselves," Ifeajika said. 

Also, some of the recruited vigilantes who spoke in an interview lauded the council chairman for establishing the outfit while pledging their resolve to ensure effective commitment to their dirty to keep watch and cooperate with the conventional security agencies.

The council partnered with the security agencies; Police, Army, DSS and others who delivered lectures at the workshop.

The event was attended by traditional rulers, security operatives, religious leaders, youths and other stakeholders from the LGA.

The highpoint of the event was the presentation of 20 brand-new motorcycles and other security gadgets to equip the newly inaugurated neighborhood security watch.