Enugu State governor, Mr Peter Mbah, has sought the partnership of Nigerian navy high command to tackle incessant insecurity in the state and the South East.
Mr Mbah sought the help during a courtesy visit to the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, at the Naval Headquarters in Abuja.
He said the visit was to identify with the naval chief who is from the state as well as appreciate President Bola Tinubu for the honour of appointing a son of the state as CNS.
He said his administration had outlined measures to achieve exponential growth in the state through sound economic policies, adding that such policies could only succeed in a secured and peaceful environment.
The governor called on the Nigerian navy to expand its operational activities to the state, adding that his administration was ready to partner with the navy and other security agencies to put an end to insecurity in the South East.
“If we must deal with the root causes of insecurity, we must adopt both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches to dealing with insecurity and we felt that the big elephant in the room was to address those activities that may be an inhibition to bringing in investors to our state.
“We felt that it was a clog in the wheel of our continued development, which was why immediately I took over as the governor, I convened the security council meeting.
“Following from that we made an announcement that we wanted the Monday sit-at-home to end, because we have zero tolerance to that.
“We needed to heighten our security architecture and to mobilise all the security agencies in our state to be able to deal with this, and thus far we are getting the required support we need from the various security agencies.
“We are also hoping that we are going to invite the Navy on board to join hands with us to be able to deal with these big elephants in the room,” he said.
Responding, the naval boss, Ogalla, said that the relationship between the Nigerian navy and other stakeholders like state governments had been instrumental to the successes they have been achieving.
The naval boss said the current security challenges facing the country required the whole of government approach, adding that the navy had extended its operations to cover a good part of the region.
He said the naval base and the special forces deployed in the South East had been contributing to the security apparatus in the region and promised to extend those operations further.
The CNS said the navy would continue to partner with state governments and other stakeholders to provide an enabling environment for businesses to thrive for the overall economic well-being and progress of the country.
“I want to assure you that the Nigerian navy will continue to support and collaborate with you for mutual benefits and progress of our dear country, Nigeria and Enugu State,” he said.