Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, on Tuesday, flagged off a new special operational action plan code-named “Operation Restore Peace” for the stabilization security in the South-East.
This was contained in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja by the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), CP Frank Mba.
Speaking at the ceremony which took place at the Michael Okpara Square, Enugu, the IGP stated that exercise was part of efforts targeted at returning the South-Eastern region to its historical pride of place where its people were known to be peaceful, tolerant, innovative, industrious and entrepreneurial.
The police boss declared that the special operation “has become necessary to engender all-inclusive security actions to roll-back the murderous attacks, violence, proliferation of weapons and other threats to law and order occasioned by the separatist agenda being heightened by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN) in the South-East region.”
He observed that activities of the group in the region have assumed an armed dimension in which important political and community leaders, as well as personnel and assets of the Nigeria Police, Military and other security agencies, critical national infrastructure, were being constantly targeted in clearly well-coordinated, premeditated manners.
He added that this was in addition to deepening inter-ethnic prejudice and intolerance, unjustifiable inter-ethnic violence and counter-violence, loss of lives and massive destruction of properties.
The IGP assured that in the coming days, the special operation would be extended to other parts of the South-East region and other parts of the country in order to confront criminal elements and to address peculiar crimes including banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism, amongst others.
According to him, “the operation will be carried out by operatives of the force in collaboration with the Armed Forces, the intelligence community and other sister security agencies.”
Speaking at the occasion, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi commended the IGP for initiating the special operation, describing it as timely, and believed would help in rejigging and re-tooling the security architecture of the South-East.
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