Gov. Mbah and members of the BOT, Enugu State Security Trust Fund inaugurated the Enugu State Security Trust Fund to raise funds to combat insecurity in the state.
The 11-member Board of Trustees (BOT) of the Trust Fund is chaired by Mr Ike Chioke, an Investment Banker and Group Managing Director of Afrinvest Trustees Limited, while Mr Chinedu Anih was appointed the Executive Secretary.
Other members of the BOT are Mr Nathaniel Udeh and Mr Chris Ekemezie representing the private sector; Commissioner for Human Capital and Poverty Eradication, Dr Malachy Agbo, and Commissioner for Culture and Toursim, Dame Ugochi Madueke, representing the state.
Among them are the State Director, Department of State Security, Mrs Theresa Egbunu and the Garrison Commander, 82 Division, Nigerian Army, Enugu, Brig.-Gen. Murtala Abu, representing the security organisations.
They also include ACP (Rtd.) Ifeanyi Nwafor; Igwe Lawrence Agubuzu representing the Chairman of Enugu State Council of Traditional Rulers as well as the Anglican Bishop of Nike Diocese, Bishop Onyeka Onyia and the Vice Chancellor of the Godfrey Okoye University, Rev. Fr. Christian Aneke, representing the religious institutions.
Inaugurating the BOT, Mbah said the security trust fund was in line with his administration’s campaign promise and efforts to build on the successes achieved in the security of lives and property in the state.
Mbah, who commended them for accepting to serve the state with their wealth of experience and contacts, put the state’s projected security expenditure for 2024 at N20 billion.
The governor said that the government was counting on private sector support to achieve it.
He said: “The Security Trust Fund is in line with what we have expressed in our manifesto when we were seeking the mandate of our people to serve them.
“We promised them that Enugu will be one of the top three states in terms of GDP and of course we said it is going to happen from private sector investment; and attracting private sector investment requires that you have the enabling environment.
“This was why we immediately made certain consequential pronouncements and took emphatic steps in addressing our insecurity challenges”.
He added that the government set up Distress Response Squad, deployed CCTV around Enugu city, and made sure they had a central Command and Control Centre where they could monitor all that was going on to prevent crimes.
“We work to prevent crimes, but have also put in place adequate measures and facilities to be able to identify, track, capture and defeat the criminals involved if there is any breach of security of any kind.
“So, the inauguration of this Security Trust Fund today is going to redouble our efforts in the fight against insecurity in the state,” he stressed.
Speaking, Chioke lauded Mbah administration for containing insecurity in the state as well as activating the Security Trust Fund four years after it was signed into law.
“We are witnessing something that should have happened, perhaps four years ago, when the law establishing the Enugu State Security Trust Fund was actually passed. But without the BOT, it was not possible to action it.
“But under your leadership, we have seen the amazing work you have done in calming down issues of insecurity in our state as can now move around freely on Mondays.
Chioke noted that taking further steps of setting up the BOT of the trust fund gave additional impetus to the commitment to make sure Enugu was safe for business and the citizens.
He promised that the appointees would deliver on their mandate, given the calibre of people the government had assembled.
“The objective of this security fund is fundraising and I have my background in financing, financial markets, and capital markets. I have been doing investment banking since 1991.
“I have no doubt that we will meet the people’s expectation,” Chioke assured.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the enabling law was enacted in 2020 but was not activated until Mbah’s administration initiated vital amendments to the Law in 2023.
He also executed a Deed of Trust to pave the way for the appointment and inauguration of a Board of Trustees (BOT) to bring the Trust Fund into full force.
The provisions of the Enugu State Security Trust Fund Law (as amended in 2023), show that the BOT has the mandate to source for fund for the acquisition and deployment of security equipment and to carry out other activities.
They act as an intervention agency to all security agencies operating within the state; provide money for the acquisition and deployment of security equipment, including human and material resources, among others. (NAN)
