UPDATED: IGP Launches Operation Restore Peace In South East

The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, has launched “Operation Restore Peace” in the South East geo-political zone.

The operation codenamed “Operation RP” was unveiled at the Okpara Square in Enugu State on Tuesday.

The operation’s establishment was necessitated by the proliferation of insecurity in the region.

Speaking at the event, IGP said the launch would engender security actions to roll back the murderous attacks, spread of weapons and other threats to law and order occasioned by the “separatist agenda being heightened by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Eastern Security Network (ESN)”.

He noted that the activities of the group have “assumed an armed dimension in which important political and community leaders as well as personnel and assets of the Nigeria Police, military and other security agencies, critical national infrastructure are being targeted”.

He, however, disclosed that the special operations would be extended to other parts of the South East ‘to confront criminal elements, take the battle to their doorsteps and re-order our cherished national values in the region’.

“The ‘Operation RP’ will be replicated in other parts of the country to address peculiar crimes, including banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism, amongst others,” he said.

Baba commended the South East governors and other stakeholders for “supporting the police in restoring security and strengthening national unity”.

On his part, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi revealed that the state had strengthened its neighbourhood watch associations and established Enugu State Forest Guards.

The governor added that the state had also provided security patrol vehicles and communication gadgets to support the security agencies in the state.

“Enugu State Security Trust Fund Law is in place to ensure sustainable funding for security agencies in our state. The deployment of our Automated Drone Surveillance Solution to give the needed impetus to our security surveillance is underway,” Ugwuanyi said.

The governors of Ebonyi, Imo and Abia states were represented by their deputies while their Anambra State counterpart was represented by CP Ikechukwu Ayo Aduba (retrd).

States in the South East have witnessed a spate of attacks, ranging from the destruction of police and government facilities to killing of security operatives by criminal elements.

Despite the South East governor’s initiative to set up a security outfit called EbubeAgu, the region is still faced with reoccurring bloodshed and attacks.

The IGP, however, said the new Operation RP was adopted to restore peace that the South East was known for.