Insecurity: Ebonyi Govt approves private security outfit for state-owned varsity

The Ebonyi Government says it welcomes the initiative of the management of the state-owned university, Abakiliki, to engage a private security outfit to checkmate the rising insecurity in the institution. The Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Prof. Amari Omaka, made the remark on Thursday, when he visited the institution. Omaka described the university’s decision as “a welcome development”. He assured the staff members that no one would lose their job due to the initiative and resultant security postings to the campuses of the university. He commended them for maintaining the peace, in spite of the security challenges and urged them to continue to be law-abiding. “You should fully support the institution’s management to ensure the protection of lives and property,” he said. Omaka promised to inform the state governor about the development, hoping that he would also give his blessing to the initiative. “We should commend the governor for ensuring prompt payment of workers’ salaries as well as pensions and gratuities from 1996-2022. According to him, the governor loves civil servants and has shown it through prompt payment of salaries and other entitlements, ongoing recruitment, among others. The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Chigozie Ogbu, thanked the commissioner for the visit, saying that the institution had remained peaceful, the security challenges, notwithstanding. Ogbu said: “The Governing Council decided to engage a private security outfit to ensure adequate security in the institution. “The outfit will be in the main campus, while the institution’s regular security personnel will be posted to other campuses of the university.” He expressed concern that the institution was faced with lots of criminal activities, which seemed to have overwhelmed its internal security arrangement. “The recruitment of a private security outfit is in line with best practices obtained in many organisations across the globe. “No staff will be dismissed due to the private security engagement or postings to the other campuses,” he said. The university’s Chief Security Officer, Mr Felix Nwafor, promised  that efforts would be doubled to ensure adequate security in the institution. “We lack security gadgets and sundry tools, which affected efficiency. “When we arrest suspects and hand them over to security agents, they would be released,” Nwafor said.