In fulfilment of Governor Alex Otti’s promise to provide operational vehicles to assist the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, and other law enforcement agencies in their operations in Abia State, the government has handed over two Toyota Hilux vehicles to the Abia State Commander of NDLEA, Mr. Joseph Owoputi Adekunle and another to the Comptroller of Nigerian Immigration Service Abia State, Mrs. Tina Owe.
Governor Alex Otti had last week, during the visit of the new Commander of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency in Abia, Mr. Adekunle promised to donate operational vehicles to him as requested.
Handing over the operational vehicles at the Government House, Umuahia, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security, Navy Commander MacDonald Uba (Rtd.) charged agencies to see vehicles and logistics assistance provided by government as support to achieve their mandate in the State.
Commander Uba, represented by the General Manager and Chief Executive officer of the Abia State Homeland Security Agency, Col. Chidi Kalu Ukoha, retd, said that security is one of the key issues Governor Alex Otti is intentional about.
He said that the present administration is committed to the protection of lives and property of Abians and residents, and urged the beneficiaries to deploy the vehicles strictly for the purpose they were provided.
He described security as the catalyst for development, saying that every other socio- economic activity cannot take place in an insecure environment. He said Governor Otti holds security of lives and property very dear and is doing everything possible to ensure that the State is very safe and secured.
The Special Adviser said that the State government decided to support these agencies with operational vehicles in order to mitigate and nip crime in the bud and reassured of government’s unwavering commitment in assisting federal security agencies to achieve their strategic and operational mandate in the State.
Speaking, after receiving the keys, the State Comptroller, NIS, Abia State command Mrs. Justina Oweh and the NDLEA Commander, Mr Joseph Adekunle, expressed profound gratitude to the Governor Dr Alex Otti for the kind gesture.
Oweh said, “with this, it’s going to impact our operations because I just resumed there last week and only one Hilux, was on ground and I said, it will be difficult for us to really give our best.
“With this, I’m very, very delighted. It’s a very good omen that I’m going to do a very good job. Ultimately, we promise we will not disappoint.”
For Adekunle, it’s a timely intervention and hard time for drug offenders as he promised to leave no stone unturned in bringing drug related crime to the barest minimum in the State.
