Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, on Tuesday raised the alarm over the resurgence of violent crimes in the state.
The governor, who spoke while inaugurating new members of the Enugu State Security Council, noted that in recent times, the state had witnessed a rise in cases of kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism and ritual killing.
The new members of the state security council are the Garrison Commander, 82 Division, Nigerian Army, Enugu, Col. Osa Omoregbe; the Commander, 337 Base Services Group, Nigerian Air Force, Enugu, Air Commodore Emmanuel Golit; the Director of Security, State Security Services, Enugu, Enugu, Mr. Abdul Malik, and the State Commander, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Enugu, Mr. Lar Zwali.
Ugwuanyi said the need to beef up security in the state became imperative due to the recent upsurge in violent crimes.
“Inasmuch as the state’s rating in the area of security remains enviably and comparatively high, I am certain that from recent media reports, you would have observed that the incidences of such violent crimes as kidnapping, ritual killings, cultism and armed robbery have been on the increase in both the rural and urban areas of the state,” he told the security council.
He directed the council to immediately address the resurgence of criminal activities in the state to ensure the security of lives and property.
The governor, who later presided over a meeting of the security council, told members of the committee to immediately come up with an action plan to tackle “the undesirable development”.