Enugu State Government on Monday donated additional 29 patrol vans to 10 security agencies in the state in response to recent rise of insecurity in parts of the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that this is coming eight days after the police command in the state was gifted with 65 patrol vans by the state government.
Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, of Enugu state, while presenting the Innoson patrol vehicles, said that the gesture was part of ongoing efforts to rejig the security architecture of the state.
Ugwuanyi said that it had become compelling to strengthen and equip security agencies in the state to be able to tackle crime.
He said that the state government had also taken delivery of hundreds of motorcycles and bicycles, adding that it had also placed order for automated drones.
The governor lauded the roles of the security agencies in protecting the lives and property of residents of the state.
Ugwuanyi charged them to deploy the vehicles for their intended use.
The organisations that benefited from the latest gesture include the Nigerian Army, 8, Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), 6, Nigerian Air Force, 3, Nigerian Immigration Services, 2 and Nigerian Customs Service, 1.
The rest are the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency, 1, Nigerian Correctional Services, 1, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), 1, Federal Road Safety Corps, 1 and Department of State Security (DSS), 5.
In an interview, the Commandant of the NSCDC in the state, Mr Evaristus Obiyo, said that the gesture would spur them to do more in securing residents of the state.
Also, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Information, Mr Steve Oruruo, said that the state government had by the gesture reinvigorated the security apparatus in the state.
Oruruo said that the move would serve as a motivation to the various security agencies.
“It is the responsibility of government to provide security in the line with Sect. 45 of the Nigeria Constitution and what the governor has done is in tandem with the aspirations of residents of the state.
“The state government has been proactive in providing the basic solutions to the problems of the people,” he said.
The special adviser said that the results of recent interventions by the state government had become manifest as the rate of insecurity had dropped so low.
Oruruo said that much was expected from the security agencies, adding that government expected total absence of criminality in the state.