South East Governors Forum slam IG for reneging on post-Amotekun community policing agreement

INSPECTOR-general of police Mohammed Adamu has come under fire from the South East Governors Forum for reneging on an agreement to establish community policing across the geo-political zone which they entered into in February.

Earlier this year, the South East Governors Forum scrapped plans to launch a regional security network to be known as Operation Ogbunigwe, that would have been similar to Operation Amotekun launched in the southwest geo-political zone. In February, the six southwest governors agreed to launch a regional body called Amotekun to combat the growing menace of banditry, kidnapping and insecurity in their states.

Highly popular with Nigerians who have been living with chronic insecurity, Amotekun sparked off calls for the creation of similar regional structures nationwide. In the southeast geo-political zone, the governors began moves to create a body that would be known as Operation Ogbunigwe, that would mirror Amotekun.

However, after a meeting with Mr Adamu in Enugu yesterday, the governors agreed to shelve these plans and instead opt for the federal government's community policing programme. Governor Dave Umahi, the chairman of the South East Governors Forum, said they had decided to charge local leaders of communities with the responsibility of recruiting personnel for the community policing initiative.

Yesterday, however, after a meeting in Enugu, Governor Umahi said that the recent communication from Mr Adamu did not conform with the initial agreement reached with him. he called on Mr Adamu to revert to their initial agreement reached on community policing at Enugu.

Governor Umahi said: “The forum agrees that all South East States Houses of Assembly should commence the process of enacting the state security laws in line with the South East Joint Security Programme. In the circumstance, we cannot begin implementation of it until the programme reflects our earlier agreement."

On Covid-19, the governors urged Igbos nationwide to stay safe and obey all directives to contain the spread of the virus. Governor Umahi said Igbos should obey the Nigeria Centre of Disease and Control hygiene protocols, the presidential task force on Covid-19 and directives of all governors where they live.