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Umahi, Security Expert Differ On Insecurity In South-East

Published

2 years ago

June 4, 2022

Editor

A security expert, Col. Hassan Stan-Labo (retd.), and a former chairman of the South-East Security Committee, General Obi Umahi (retd.), have differed on the increasing level of insecurity in Imo, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi and Abia states.

While Stan-Lanbo insisted that the continued breach of security in the South-East should be blamed on years of marginalisation of the region by the government, Umahi stated that governors in the region should take the blame for the killings and kidnapping.

Speaking with Saturday PUNCH, Stan-Lanbo said, “We need to see the efforts from the government to make the average person on the street to feel safe and have a sense of belonging. Those in authority should try to see that there is enough inclusiveness in the way they go about things.

“Everything should be done to bring in those who feel that they no longer want to be part of the family. They should get them back to the family. It should be by appeasing them and not by using force.

“The year 2023 is coming around; we shall have a fresh set of leaders as well. There will be a new set of appointments. We hope we will not have a situation where those appointed will come from a particular region.

“Such act does not make my country safe for any of us. Those who are creating these problems have two or three passports. As we speak, their children are abroad, but we are here killing each other.

“Solving the problem of insecurity in the South-East will call for a multifaceted approach, including political solutions. It goes beyond the formation of Ebubeagu to enjoy peace in the region. How have you tried to make the Igbo man have a sense of belonging in the Nigerian state?”

They say IPOB should be called terrorists. If you ask me, I don’t think they should be called terrorists. The solution is that we should look for a way to bring some of these people to the negotiation table.

“We must talk to several other stakeholders; we must talk to elders in the communities, we must be talking with political leaders. You have to talk to people who these boys can listen to.”

However, Umahi said some politicians and elites from the South-East region were exploiting the fragile security situation in the region for their selfish gains.

He asked Nigerians to blame the sitting governors of the region for the carnage that had characterised the recent development in the South-East.

Speaking during a programme on TVC and monitored by Saturday PUNCH, Umahi said if the governors were honest with their fight against insecurity in the region, they should have strengthened the regional security outfit, Ebubeagu, with enough finance and moral support to address the menace.

The South-East Governors’ Forum had on August 31, 2019, appointed Umahi as the chairman of the committee.

The committee was asked to draft a framework for the establishment of a South-East joint security outfit to cater to the security needs of the zone.

However, most of the South-East governors were said to have refused to fund the security outfit, a development that made Umahi to resign on June 4, 2021, as chairman of the committee.

The retired soldier noted, “There are some political elites that leverage the security situation in the South-East for their selfish gains. They thought they could use the situation to their advantage during the election. But if the governors were proactive, all of these would have been avoided.

“The issues of insecurity in the South-East were orchestrated by the Indigenous People of Biafra. When some politicians want to settle scores, they begin to look for bandits.

“When it was brewing, as the chairman of the security committee, I noticed that some clerics were propagating IPOB and I condemned it. But people were afraid and refused to speak out against it.’’

“I knew what to do, but the means to do it was not available. A General does not like a situation where he knows that he can deal with a thing but does not have the resources to deal with it. That is frustration.

News

Over 91,000 Vulnerable Persons benefiting from free basic Healthcare In Edo – Health Insurance Commission

Published

7 mins ago

May 8, 2024

Editor

The Director General, Edo State Health Insurance Commission (EDOHIC), Dr. Rock Amegor, has said over 102,000 vulnerable persons in the state are benefitting from the state’s Equity Fund and the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF).

Dr. Amegor disclosed this in Benin City during an event to commemorate two years of providing care to vulnerable groups under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund by the Commission.

The Fund is being managed by the Edo State Government in collaboration with the Federal Government to cater for the healthcare needs of vulnerable persons in the State.

He noted, “We are here to mark the two-year anniversary of providing healthcare services for the very vulnerable in our society. The State and Federal Governments have put funds aside to take care of those who are very vulnerable. We have classified the vulnerable into five groups: Those under five years of age, pregnant women, indigents, the poorest of the poorest and those above 65 years of age.”

According to him, “These vulnerable groups, as the Bible says, the poor have always been with us. It is what we started with to show the empathy of today’s government.

“We have other plans but in March 2022, we started giving service from only three facilities under the basic health care provision fund, and in that year, we had only enrolled 9,000 people into the scheme, but as of today, with the contribution of the State and Federal Government, we gave enrolled about 80,000 people into the Basic Health Care Provision Fund or the Equity Plan. Over 69,000 persons from the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, and another 22,000 persons from the State Equity.”

Amegor added, “They are complementing each other. The beauty about the Basic Health Care Provision Fund and the State Equity Plan is that there is no co-contribution from the enrollee or patients whenever they go to the hospital.

“Those within the rural and the semi-urban and urban areas, the likes of the Ward Development Committee or the officer-in-charge of the facilities and even the Enigies and the Odionwere of the societies, they know those who are vulnerable within them.

“They are given a number to register vulnerable people so that every month we get a target of at least 20/20 per facility to make sure those living in desolate areas, those even living in urban and rural areas can get access to health care whenever and wherever they need this health care.

“If you look at the statistics of enrollment and when we call out for programmes and outreach for people to participate in their health care service, Edo North had consistently come top and so, one of the statistics that the digital agency has also drawn out and has also contained what you have said is that Edo North has a very high health-seeking behaviour even when manpower deficit is the same across board.”

He restated, “What we are doing is using that statistics to inform those in other senatorial districts to improve their health-seeking behaviour because what that generates or what it relates to is that for those who have health-seeking behavior, they have more longevity, their life expectancy is better, their quality of life is better and ultimately their productivity is better.”

Also, the State Coordinator, NHIA, Theodore Ehanire, expressed satisfaction over the contribution of the state government in keeping with its mandate to provide continuous health care assistance to vulnerable people in the State, including people living with disabilities.

News

BREAKING: Rivers State House Of Assembly Gets New Speaker

Published

53 mins ago

May 8, 2024

Editor

The political crisis rocking Rivers State took a new dimension Wednesday evening as a new Speaker of the House of Assembly emerged.

It was gathered that Hon. Victor Oko Jumbo, a member loyal to Governor Sim Fubara, has been sworn in as the new Speaker.

More to come…

News

Nollywood Veterans React To Death The New Masquerade’ Actress, Ovularia

Published

2 hours ago

May 8, 2024

Editor

Nollywood actors and actresses have reacted to the death of Madam Elizabeth Evoeme, who starred as Ovularia in the 80s TV sitcom ‘The New Masquerade’, is dead.

Reacting to her death, veteran actor, Jide Kosoko wrote: “We lost another gem though at a ripe age. I pray the almighty God grants her soul a peaceful rest. We worked together on ‘The New Masquerade.’

“I was a guest artiste at the time. She was just fantastic. May her soul rest in peace and may God continue to keep us that are still alive.

“Her virtue of discipline that has to do with keeping to call time, submitting to the directors’ wish at all time and other professional ethics she stood for, should be emulated by all other actors.”

Adebayo Salami, popularly known as “Oga Bello,” described the death of the actress as shocking.

He said, “We are all getting older but no one wants to die. We are going to miss her but her legacies still remain with us. We love her but God loves her most.”

Actor Fred Amata also expressed shock over the death of the actress