The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and Abia State Ministry of Power and Public Utilities have intensified measures to protect public utilities.
The state commandant of the corps, Chukwuemeka Odimba and the commissioner for Power and Oublic Utilities, Ikechukwu Monday, spoke on the new iniative at a meeting at the ministry’s headquarters in Umuahia, the state capital.
Odimba said although there had been a significant decline in vandalism of public facilities in the state, there was a need to increase the campaign against the crime and its perpetrators.
“The importance of protecting such facilities, whether they are local, state or federal government-owned, cannot be overemphasised. Hence, the need for collaboration between the corps and the ministry in this campaign,” he said.
He commended the commissioner for the government’s “light up Abia project”, which he described as a great initiative that supports the security agencies in the overall fight against crimes and criminalities.
Odimba, who maintained that besides beautifying the streets at night, the lights also make miscreants uncomfortable to operate, underlined the need for their protection. He also used the opportunity to request a list of major state infrastructure and their locations “to guide the command in its strategic deployments to secure the same in the state”.
The commandant spoke about the command’s plans to scrutinise the activities of scrap metal dealers in the state, in continuation of the ongoing operations against theft and vandalism of public facilities.
Responding, Monday commended the commandant, members of his team, and the command for their personal and collective efforts in pursuing the corps’ mandate. He said he concurred with Odimba that there had been a steady decline in vandalism cases in the state and appealed to him to scale up their operations to surpass the successes already recorded. Describing the meeting as very necessary for the development of the state, the commissioner pledged the ministry’s readiness to continue collaborating with the corps to ensure the state’s security.
