Governor Alex Otti has inaugurated the Abia State Security Advisory Council and the Abia Security Trust Fund with a charge on the members to sustain the war against kidnapping and other forms of criminality in the state.
Inaugurating the two bodies at the Government House, Umuahia, Otti noted that some parts of the state were strongholds for kidnappers and other criminals before his administration launched a war against the bandits.
According to him, in the last 11 months the state has witnessed an improvement in security, which he attributed to the priority given to the sector by his administration.
The governor enjoined the Security Advisory Council is to interface with the existing security architecture the state even as he tasked the members of the Security Trust Fund to work with public and private institutions to raise the resources for the state to procure important operational and logistics tools to support various security teams.
In their responses, the Chairman of the Security Advisory Council, former Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika (Rtd), and the Chairman of the Security Trust Fund, Stanley Obiamaraije, said the war against criminality will be sustained.
The Security Advisory Council has DIG Uche Ivy Okoronkwo (Rtd), Mr Ray Nkemdirim, Maj. Gen. Abel Obi Umahi (Rtd), AVM Emmanuel Chukwu (Rtd), Maj. Gen. J.O. Nwaogbo (Rtd) and Navy Cmdr Macdonald Ubah (Rtd) as members.
Members of the Security Trust Fund include Mr Greg Okafor, Mrs Ngozi Ekeoma, Chief Johnson Chukwu, Mrs Josephine Nweze, Mrs Nkechi Obi
and Mr Bank-Anthony Okoroafor.