By Amos Aar
GOVERNOR Hyacinth Alia of Benue State has snubbed the State House of Assembly’s 3-day ultimatum given to him to appoint his Security Adviser without delay in the wake of increasing insecurity in all part of the state.
The assembly had on Tuesday, October 24, 2023 at its plenary presided over by the speaker, Hon. Aondona Dajoh, given Governor Alia 72 hours ultimatum to appoint an adviser on security to assist him tackle security challenges bedeviling the state.
Hon. Dajoh called on the governor to act without delay, noting the high level of insecurity in the state that was heightening on a daily basis.
But the governor seemed to have snubbed the legislature with no obvious move to obey the lawmakers as the ultimatum timed out yesterday, Friday, October 27, 2023.
Meanwhile, the assembly had an inconclusive plenary on Tuesday and adjourned to Wednesday, October 25, 2023 but failed to sit.
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At the moment, no date has been announced for another sitting to decide on the next line of action regarding governor’s failure to appoint an Adviser on Security.
National Record had reported that the State Assembly, during its Tuesday plenary, expressed concern particularly about the Friday, October 20’s robbery of five commercial banks in Otukpo Town, saying the heinous crime was successfully carried out due to the inability to reach the security agencies for a timely response.
Member representing Otukpo-Akpa state constituency, Hon. Angbo Kennedy, moved the motion for the ultimatum among other prayers including that all hotels and leisure spots to open mandatory ledger on guests.
Angbo explained that the raid on Otukpo, in which the Divisional Police Officer, CSP John Adikwu, three other police personnel and six civilians were killed, had exposed gaps in the security architecture of the state.
He prayed that the security agencies should without delay establish the immediate and remote causes of the attack and fish out the perpetrators of the carnage.
He also prayed that the state government should set up a trust fund to help families and victims of violent attacks across the state with a view to offsetting medical and burial expenses. He also asked for the establishment of another police station in Otukpo to support emergency response.
The lawmaker also prayed to the House that the state, through the ministries of health and humanitarian and disaster management, provide at least two fully equipped ambulances to all the 23 LGAs to help in periods of emergency.
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The speaker, Hon. Aondona Dajoh, while ruling on the prayers gave the governor a 3-day ultimatum to appoint a security adviser.
One of the lawmakers, Godwin Edith, who allegedly escaped the Otukpo attack, lamented his inability to reach out to anyone from the state for lack of a substantive security adviser. He noted that he could not reach anyone at the local government level where chairmen in the states have remained suspended since June 2023.
