Experts Advocate New Security Architecture to Tackle Insecurity in Abia

By Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo

As the Abia State Government grapples with the current security challenges, security experts have recommended “a new security architecture” which the government would adopt as a way out of the problem.

The security experts comprised retired officers of Abia origin who served in the army, navy, air force, police and Department of State Services (DSS) from the rank of assistant police commissioner or its equivalent, and heads of security agencies in the state.

The security experts had for three days brainstormed with stakeholders, including the governor and his deputy, Speaker of state House of Assembly, members of state security council, council chairmen and their deputies, as well as traditional rulers on the way out of the security problems.

In a 17-point communiqué signed by a former Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Gen Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd), who chaired the Abia State Security Summit 2021, the stakeholders said that the new security architecture will incorporate a community-based vigilante services, Homeland Security (CPAMS) and ABSAS (Bakassi Boys).

However, all the local security outfits would be required to work in conjunction with the statutory security agencies to enhance the security and safety of Abia.

To deepen the new security architecture, the stakeholders said that power should be devolved to the local governments with council chairmen adequately empowered to tackle security issues in their areas.

The 17 council chairmen in Abia would therefore “be required to work with existing and homegrown structures to ensure the security of their local councils” to effectively secure the grassroots.

The summit noted that traditional rulers in the state should “continue to play active roles in securing their domains as they are very important in the security equation because of their proximity to the people and knowledge of people resident in their domains”.

The summit acknowledged the role of the people in the security equation and called on the citizenry to continue to work with the security agencies in the state in the area of providing information that would be useful in combating crime.

“Perpetrators of these nefarious acts are from amongst the people and with robust information management system, it will be easy to apprehend them,” the stakeholders stated.

But the security experts urged security agencies to effectively manage information given to them by informants to avoid backlash against the informants thereby discouraging such cooperation from the people.

Aside from protection of informants, the summit also called for the establishment of an effective incentive system to encourage more people to come forward with information on the activities of criminal elements in the state.

On the attacks on security formations in the state, the summit condemned “in very strong terms” such dastardly acts and commiserated with the Nigeria Police, other security agencies, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who have lost personnel and assets.

The summit emphatically stated that targeting security facilities and personnel for attacks and destruction “are not healthy for the state and region”.

They also recommended that the state government should in addition to the existing state Security Council, constitute Abia State Security Advisory Committee composed of serving and retired senior security officers from the state to continue to advise the state government on security issues based on their experiences.