Before the recent conflict in Eha Amufu community and its environs in Isi Uzo LGA of Enugu State where lives were lost, people displaced and properties destroyed, Enugu state has always been known for its peacefulness and security especially since Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi assumed office.
Although, it is an axiomatic fact that no society is completely insulated from crime or insecurity, the sudden security breaches and hitches in some parts of Enugu state have always been brought under control and not allowed to unsettle Ndi Enugu by the appropriate authorities.
When there was security hitches along Ugwuogo- Nike- Opi- Nsukka road, the state government and security agents quickly stemmed the tide with the increased deployment of security personnel, completion and commissioning of the Mopol 76 Barrack Ekwegbe, Igbo-Etiti LGA, constructed by the Enugu State Government and clearing of bushes which had hitherto provided cover for kidnappers and criminals in that axis.
Different security measures have also been put in place at the Four Corner axis of the state following the recent security hitches in that area as well. There are other security measures deployed by the security agents and the Enugu state government to ensure maximum security in the state that are not for public consumption or disclosure to avoid sabotage.
In the same vein, there are other security challenges in the state that have been secretly and noiselessly nipped in the bud by the security agents in collaboration with the state government without the public experiencing and witnessing them.
Enugu's attainment of the status of one of the most peaceful states in the country under Governor Ugwuanyi's watch is not a fluke or compromise. It is a fact which the statistics is glaring, verifiable and unquestionable.
While security of lives and properties is the primary and major constitutional responsibility of every government, it is evidenced that the rising spate of insecurity across the country in recent years which is quite worrisome and overwhelming has posed a great challenge. To overcome and tackle this requires the collaboration of all and for all hands to be on deck. It cannot be left for government alone.
From the Boko Haram insurgency in the North, to banditry, kidnapping, communal violence, unknown gunmen and marauding herders' menace in the South, the situation is scaring and disturbing.
In the face of these daunting security challenges, Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who made security and peace of the state his government's top priority from inception is not resting on his oars.
He may have not been mouthing it at all times for genuine reasons, he has always acted it quietly and the result is obvious and encouraging. For instance, Governor Ugwuanyi established and empowered the Forest Guards and also strengthened and repositioned the Neighborhood Watch in the state to complement the work of other security agents in the state.
Governor Ugwuanyi is quite aware and mindful of the fact that nothing meaningful or progressive can be achieved in a chaotic and violent atmosphere, hence his government has left no stone unturned in ensuring that the state is secure at all times, especially during festive period.
The recent insecurity upsurge and killings in Eha Amufu community and its environs which led to loss of lives and properties is quite regrettable, condemnable and unwarranted. The age-long crisis which appeared to have defied successive governments' interventions has some undertones and remote causes that needed to be explored and addressed for immediate and permanent solutions to the lingering crisis in the Eha Amufu communities.
This Governor Ugwuanyi has done with his recent reconcilitary and dialogical meetings with the various stakeholders, leaders and factional groups in Eha Amufu community and its environs, who have been working at cross purposes in tackling the killings and conflicts in the communities.
It is discovered and believed by many that the remote causes and impediments to peace and security in the troubled communities had a lot to do with the local politics, power struggles and disunity among the stakeholders, indigenes and leaders of the affected communities.
Before the meeting with them, Governor Ugwuanyi had donated the sum of N10m at the wake of the killings to take care of the displaced persons and survivors that needed urgent succour and care. He paid unscheduled nocturnal visit to the affected communities, where he sympathised with the victims and their families.
More security personnel were deployed to the troubled Eha Amufu communities to bring the situation under control.
Today, there is prevailing peace and security in Eha Amufu communities and across the length and breadth of Enugu State. People are going about their normal businesses and celebrating the festival season unperturbed.
It is quite disheartening, misleading and unfortunate that at the peak of the crisis in Eha Amufu communities, some people who have no first hand security information, knowledge or evidence of the conflict and even some persons from the troubled communities politicised and trivialised it on social media for cheap political gain. They peddled fake and gory pictures of corpses that have no link with the Eha Amufu crisis and claimed that they were from there in a desperate attempt to pitch and incite people against Governor Ugwuanyi, dismiss and sabotage his untiring efforts in tackling the problem headlong.
What these people failed to realise is that security matters and strategies to handle them cannot be put in the public domain for security reasons. They also failed to realise that 2023 general elections will come and go and the people of Eha Amufu communities and Enugu State by extension will continue to live together and remain brothers and sisters.
Some intentionally painted scary and horrifying scenarios of the security situation in Enugu state and ignorantly accused Governor Ugwuanyi of abandoning the people of Eha Amufu communities to their fate without stating how.
For the umpteenth time, Governor Ugwuanyi is a leader who has not relented in pursuing peace and security. He is a Governor who stays more in the state working assiduously than globetrotting.
Before now, his government has peacefully resolved lingering communal clashes, farmers and herders clashes in the state amicably.
Example of such is the age-long communal crisis between Umuode and Oruku communities in Nkanu East LGA that have claimed lives and defied resolution before Governor Ugwuanyi's government stepped in and resolved the crisis to the acceptance and satisfaction of all the affected parties.
Considering the security situation across the length and breadth of Nigeria today, Enugu state remains one of the safest, if not the most safest, peaceful and secure state in the country.
Ezea, writes from Independence Layout, Enugu State