The Cross River State Government is to set up a homeland security outfit to complement the effort of the existing security agencies in the state.
This was contained in a statement issued by the state government after Governor Ben Ayade received the French Consul-General, Laurent Polonceaux and his entourage, who paid him a courtesy visit in his private residence in Calabar.
He explained that the essence of the outfit, named Homeland Security Service, which would be a non-arm bearing outfit, a complete departure from the traditional methods of policing, would be to enhance the state security.
Ayade added that the security outfit would provide 3,000 jobs for the state citizens.
He said, “The state will rely on the support of the government of France for technical and other logistics support for the security organisation. With the visit of the Consul-General of France in Nigeria and with the useful deliberation we have had, with regards to the security challenges facing the Niger Delta at this period, and looking at how Lafarge can do business much better in a less security tense atmosphere, it becomes imperative for us to create a security architecture that can protect Lafarge and extend other services to other citizens and visitors to Cross River State.”
According to him, the state has been the home of tourism, a signature and hallmark of hospitality and good lifestyle for all Africans, this “it is imperative we make it very safe.”
“The Homeland Security service is a complete departure from what is the tradition. It will, however, include but not limited to issues like providing intelligence, profiling of visitors coming in and out, providing intelligence services also, doing neighbourhood check and neighbourhood watch. It will also assist in furnishing the police and other security agencies with information on who comes in and out of the state by providing intelligence data to the police. It will be a non-arm bearing outfit with assistance from the French government.”
Polonceaux expressed gratitude to Ayade for the fruitful meeting and emphasised the need for a more healthy and robust cooperation between his country and Cross River State, especially in the area of doing business with Lafarge and water provision.
