Governor Umo Eno addressing reporters at Victor Attah’s International Airport on integrating village youth leaders into stare security architecture
Governor Umo Eno addressing reporters at Victor Attah’s International Airport on integrating village youth leaders into stare security architecture
Akwa Ibom State Governor Pastor Umo Eno has said that plans are underway to integrate village youth presidents into the state’s security architecture to tackle insecurity across the 2,200 villages in the state.
Addressing journalists at the Victor Attah International Airport on arrival from a two-day official visit outside the state, Eno said the decision is informed by the current security situation in Nigeria.
“The reason is simple. We must take security seriously as a state. We must be proactive. The security situation in the country demands that all state governors must be very proactive.”
“The village youth presidents live in the villages, and we have over 2,200 villages. They must now come in to become part of the security architecture of the state as we prepare to roll out our state police.”
Eno explained that the youth presidents will be trained on information gathering to serve as intelligence officers within the Ibom Community Watch to help security agencies function optimally.
“They will be our intelligence officers. So we are bringing them into the Ibom Community Watch. They will be trained on intelligence gathering by the Nigerian Police and other security agencies, and then we will formally bring them in.”
“So village youth presidents are now going to serve as intelligence officers, responsible to the government in their respective villages, and of course, we are creating jobs.”
“So you can be sure that over 2,200 youth presidents will be engaged.”
Eno decried situations where primary schools and other public facilities in villages are vandalised in places where there is a youth president, adding that with their planned integration, such incidents would become history.
“You must be responsible for what happens in your village. The government now hires you. You need to know the number of people in your village, who are the visitors in your village.”
“Criminal activities don’t happen overnight; security overruns don’t happen overnight.”
