State Police: Oborevwori Lauds Oshimili North Council For Establishing LG Security Watch

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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 Security Through Strategic Partnership and Community Engagement”, held at Akwukwu-Igbo.

Oborevwori, represented by Mr David Tonwe, Director-General of State Security Operations, said the Council Chairman, Chief Innocent Esewezie, has taken 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 secure environment.

Oborevwori said: The workshop intends 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 provide valuable opportunities to deepen collaborations, building trust, sharing experiences and developing a 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 taken 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 neighbourhood watch operatives and equipping of its personnel with 20 motorcycles and other gadgets as being proactive in checking insecurity in the LGA.

He said that Delta would become safer and more peaceful if all other local government councils 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 the country.

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

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

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

“So, following from that summit, we have decided to cascade into what our governor has done to ensure the 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 the Delta Government was ready and prepared for and waiting for the law to be passed for it to deepen the existing structure in the state.

“We have the structure on the 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 under 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 duty to keep watch and cooperate with the conventional security agencies.

The council partnered with the security agencies, the Police, the 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 high point of the event was the presentation of 20 brand-new motorcycles and other security gadgets to equip the newly inaugurated neighbourhood security watch.