The authority of the Akwanga local government of Nasarawa State said it is aware of the security challenges in the area; as such, the council has constituted a joint security task force to tackle the challenges.
Executive chairman of the Akwanga local government, Safiyanu Isa Andaha, disclosed this to journalists in a telephone interview on Tuesday.
Andaha said he acted based on the directive of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly (NSHA) and the recent security challenges bedevilling the council area.
It should be noted that the NSHA recently directed the chairmen of the 13 local government areas (LGAs) in the state to collaborate with traditional rulers and security agencies to organise a security summit within two weeks and chat about tackling challenges in their domains.
“All local government chairmen should collaborate with traditional rulers and security agencies in their domains to summon a security summit within two weeks to find lasting solutions to the issue of kidnapping and other security challenges in the state”, the house said.
A few days after the NSHA directive, insecurity in some councils, including Akwanga, persisted to the extent that Igbo traders in Akwanga threatened to shut down businesses because some of their members were attacked and robbed last Friday by unidentified gunmen.
Akwanga council boss said he had acted swiftly by holding a security meeting with all security heads, traditional rulers, the Igbo Community, critical stakeholders and others to curtail security challenges in the area.
“We have acted accordingly; we had a joint security meeting with traditional rulers, stakeholders and all the heads of security agencies in the locality to fine-tune our security tactics to track and crackdown those terrorising people in Akwanga town and environs.”
“Sorry, I will not tell you the majors taken so far, but I want to assure the people of Akwanga that they will soon see the results of our underground work that will enable them to go about their normal businesses and sleep with their two eyes closed”, he said.
Isa Andaha, who said security is everyone’s business, called on the people of the area to report any clandestine movements to the nearest security outfit.