Govt not taking security seriously - Wike

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, says it is regrettable that adequate budgetary allocations for the security agencies in Nigeria have not been given top priority.

The governor made the observation when the acting Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, paid a courtesy visit to him at the Government House in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.

Wike in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kelvin Ebiri, said most budgetary allocation was made for things that did not matter because the importance of security had not been taken seriously.

“We budget for things that don’t matter. This is because we have not taken security issues seriously. Security is not only about purchasing equipment; there is the training of personnel and good intelligence,” he said.

Wike reiterated his administration’s continued support for the Nigeria Police and other security agencies working tirelessly to secure lives and property in the state.

Speaking further, the governor declared that the state would not be part of any secessionist agenda and would not be deterred by nefarious activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra.

In his remark, Usman said some groups, including the IPOB, had lately been applying a brutish method in their agitations and killed security personnel, adding that such act would no longer be tolerated. Baba thanked Wike for the financial support to the slain police officers’ families in the state and other levels of supports that had strengthened the capacity of the state command of police.

Be ruthless against criminals, IGP tells policemenMeanwhile, the acting IGP has urged officers and men of the force across the country to be ruthless and take the war to the criminal elements without waiting to be attacked.

Usman stated this in Port Harcourt on Wednesday during the flag-off of Operation Restore Peace, a special security operation aimed at tackling insecurity in the South-South.

“I charge you to henceforth defend yourself courageously against any armed group that may attempt to attack you or attack any police station or any national infrastructure.

“Don’t sit down in your station waiting to defend yourself; go out and take the war to them. Go out and look for them just as they are looking for you,” Usman stated.