By DADA AYOKHAI
In furtherance of the premium it places on the security of the lives of its citizens, the Edo State Government has decided to augment the N12m donation made by the Afenmai World Congress Inc, AWC, to beef up security in the Edo North district.
Translated, what this means is that the state government will cough out an additional sum of N36m, bringing the total sum to N48m, to support the AWC gesture.
Recently, the AWC, the umbrella body of the Afenmai people based in the United States of America and also in the diaspora donated a whopping sum of N12m to bolster the state government’s efforts in tackling the rising cases of insecurity in the zone.
Edo State Commissioner of Communication and Orientation, Hon Chris Nekiharhe, during a press parley with journalists in Benin, the Edo State capital, gave an inkling as to how the state government intends to apply the donated sum.
First, he said the state government appreciates the AWC gesture, adding it has even gone ahead to matched the sum with additional N36m by the state government, to make sure that total war is waged against insecurity in the affected zone.
He further stated that the Obaseki administration is ready and willing to extend similar gestures to other groups in the state who follow the AWC step.
He said, “The state government is willing to match any of such donations by concerned groups and other collaborators, while also ensuring the funds are deployed judiciously in the procurement of security essentials such as motorbikes, patrol vans and communication gadgets which will greatly aid the work of the vigilantes and other security agencies to penetrate the forests and other criminal enclaves and flush them”.
He said in a manner of finality that the state government will not spare the rod in dealing decisively with the criminal elements, and enjoined other groups to emulate the AWC gesture to “chase out” the criminally minded In our midst who have turned their nefarious acts into a thriving enterprise.
