By Malachy Agbo
From technology-driven surveillance and rapid-response operations to forest safety and intelligence-led policing, the governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah-led administration has made safety one of many central pillars of its improvement agenda. As the 2027 elections strategy, the problem is to guard these good points, set up the info behind rising controversies, and be certain that political competitors doesn’t come on the expense of public security.
The former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Aremu Olusegun Osoba, supplied an illuminating account of the safety scenario in Enugu State when he addressed individuals on the lately concluded Nigeria Guild of Editors Conference in Enugu. He recounted how he had assured his spouse that these liable for abducting a Catholic seminarian and different worshippers at a church in Affa, Udi Local Government Area, could be apprehended. According to his account, he was subsequently happy to be taught that the suspects had been arrested.
The significance of that account goes past the apprehension of suspects. It highlights the significance of a safety system able to gathering intelligence, mobilising personnel, pursuing felony networks and bringing suspected perpetrators earlier than the regulation. It additionally underscores a elementary accountability of presidency: to make sure that felony parts can not function with impunity or dictate the phrases on which residents reside, worship, work and conduct their companies.
The Affa incident was undoubtedly distressing. On August 2, 2026, gunmen kidnapped three folks, together with a seminarian, throughout a church service at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Inoyi, Affa group. Subsequent reviews by the police and different media organisations documented arrests linked to the incident, the restoration of firearms and the eventual launch of the remaining victims. These developments show the significance of coordinated safety operations, though the preliminary assault additionally serves as a reminder that the specter of kidnapping has not been fully eradicated.
For Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, the incident reinforces a precept that has outlined his administration since its inception: safety just isn’t an non-compulsory part of governance – it’s the basis upon which financial progress, infrastructure improvement, schooling, healthcare, tourism and public confidence should relaxation.
When Mbah assumed workplace in May 2023, the South-East was grappling with the disruptive results of the Monday sit-at-home order imposed by non-state actors. Enugu, as a serious industrial and administrative centre within the area, skilled the financial and social penalties of restrictions that discouraged merchants from opening their outlets, employees from reporting to their workplaces, kids from going to high school and residents from transferring freely.
Beyond the direct financial losses, the local weather of concern affected transport operators, small-business house owners, college students, civil servants and households whose day by day routines relied on the liberty to maneuver round with out intimidation.
The sit-at-home phenomenon additionally imposed much less seen prices. Business house owners confronted uncertainty, employees misplaced productive hours, and buyers needed to take into account whether or not their operations may perform reliably in an atmosphere the place motion is likely to be disrupted at very quick discover. The most ignoble side of it’s that many of the disruptive orders got here from faceless voice notes.
The Mbah administration moved to finish the obligatory Monday sit-at-home and different comparable orders in Enugu State and restore regular financial exercise. The coverage route was clear: no particular person or group exterior the constitutional order ought to possess the facility to find out whether or not lawful companies open or whether or not residents can go about their legit actions.
This was not merely a query of reopening outlets on Mondays. It was a query of restoring public authority, defending livelihoods and defending the fitting of residents to take part in financial and social life with out coercion.
The administration additionally pursued measures aimed toward eradicating unauthorised barricades and enhancing motion throughout the state, alongside efforts to strengthen safety coordination and cut back the disruptions related to extreme or poorly coordinated checkpoints.
These measures should in the end be assessed by their sensible results: whether or not commuters can journey safely, merchants can function persistently, employees can attain their locations and households can go about their day by day lives with out undue concern.
The goal ought to stay clear and measurable: public areas should belong to the folks, to not felony teams or people looking for to impose their will by means of violence.
One of probably the most important facets of the Mbah administration’s safety technique is its emphasis on expertise, surveillance, fast response and inter-agency coordination.
Rather than relying completely on standard patrols and reactive policing, the federal government has invested in infrastructure supposed to enhance the detection of threats, shorten response instances and strengthen the capability of safety businesses to coordinate their operations.
At the centre of this strategy is the Enugu State Command and Control Centre, formally inaugurated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on January 4, 2025. The facility integrates surveillance and communication capabilities to assist safety operations throughout the state.
In July 2026, the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, counseled the centre and the accompanying Distress Response Squad after visiting the power. The squad operated greater than 150 model new safety automobiles geared up with synthetic intelligence-enabled cameras and linked to the Command Centre. The Inspector-General additionally praised the squad’s potential to reply quickly when directed to an incident location.
In safety operations, minutes could make a decisive distinction. A well timed response might forestall an assault from escalating, facilitate the rescue of an kidnapped particular person or allow officers to intercept suspects earlier than they escape.
The administration has additionally invested in gear supposed to enhance personnel safety and operational mobility. In December 2025, the Enugu State Security Trust Fund inaugurated two drones, 10 four-wheel-drive Hilux automobiles, 40 bikes, 400 bulletproof vests and 400 bulletproof helmets for safety operations. These gadgets had been procured to enrich present surveillance infrastructure and the DRS fleet.
These investments show the breadth of the federal government’s said strategy: surveillance, mobility, gear and inter-agency cooperation are being handled as complementary components of a safety system slightly than remoted initiatives.
Indeed, some might ask: why motorbikes? The safety problem in Enugu just isn’t confined to city centres. Forests, rural roads and comparatively remoted communities can present cowl for felony teams, significantly the place tough terrain limits routine patrols and makes fast intervention extra sophisticated.
Strengthening the Enugu State Forest Guards is due to this fact an essential component of a complete safety technique.
The effectiveness of forest safety is dependent upon a mixture of native intelligence, information of the terrain, applicable gear, skilled coaching and coordination with the police, army and different authorised businesses.
By strengthening the institutional framework for the Forest Guards and supporting joint operations, the administration has taken concrete steps to enhance safety protection past the main cities.
The arrests linked to the Affa church abduction illustrate the significance of such collaboration. A joint operation involving the Department of State Services, the Nigerian Army, police, forest guards and different personnel led to arrests linked to the incident and the restoration of 4 AK-47 rifles, seven magazines and 133 rounds of ammunition.
On August 14, the Enugu State Police Command additionally introduced the arrest of 14 suspected members of a kidnapping syndicate allegedly concerned in operations in Enugu and different states, together with suspects linked to the Affa incident. The state’s technology-led safety technique has helped cut back violent crime by greater than 80 per cent.
As the 2027 normal elections strategy, the political environment will inevitably change into extra tense and aggressive. Governments will proceed to clarify, defend their data and safe a second time period. Opposition events will problem the federal government and persuade voters that their programmes supply a greater future. That is a legit function of democracy. This is what we want to get from the opposition political events and never unfounded allegations and misinformation.
Political competitors turns into harmful when violence, intimidation, deliberate misinformation or unsubstantiated allegations are used to affect public notion. No political social gathering ought to search votes by means of deceit and manipulation.
The Enugu State authorities has lately raised considerations about incidents involving the Nigeria Democratic Congress, together with a confrontation at Akanu Ibiam International Airport and a capturing incident on the social gathering’s state secretariat in Enugu.
According to the Secretary to the State Government Professor Chidiebere Onyia, the airport confrontation arose after the social gathering allegedly tried to organise a marketing campaign occasion on the facility with out acquiring the mandatory approval from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria. He mentioned safety businesses had suggested the organisers to rethink the occasion and that the following confrontation required intervention to revive order.
The authorities additionally supplied essential clarifications regarding the capturing on the social gathering’s secretariat, saying that the police had been investigating the incident. A person, recognized as Ifeanyi Nworie, had sustained a gunshot wound and was taken to hospital for therapy. Sadly, he would later succumb to the harm. He additionally denied allegations that Governor Mbah’s Chief Security Officer was current on the secretariat in the course of the capturing.
The police ought to conduct an intensive, neutral and clear investigation, set up the sequence of occasions, determine these liable for any offences and prosecute instances supported by admissible proof.
The authorities has a legit accountability to guard public order and safe important infrastructure. Political events, in flip, have a accountability to adjust to relevant legal guidelines, get hold of required permits and be certain that their actions stay peaceable. Where disputes come up, they need to be resolved by means of lawful procedures slightly than confrontation.
The Governor Mbah administration has since accession demonstrated constancy to his oath of workplace, which incorporates respect of the fitting to peaceable meeting and political participation.
One of the best dangers in an electoral atmosphere is the temptation to attribute each violent incident to authorities – even when proof suggests in any other case.
An instance was an incident at Obuofia in Nkanu West Local Government Area on September 12, 2026, whereby an opposition social gathering alleged that the federal government was the masterminded of the violence. But an investigation by the police proves in any other case. Investigations revealed that the alleged perpetrators had been truly members of the opposition social gathering.
Enugu wants a public dialog wherein info are established, wrongdoing is punished and harmless persons are not condemned due to their political affiliations.
Governor Mbah has said that his administration’s ambition to construct a bigger and extra aggressive economic system is dependent upon sustained peace and safety. The authorities welcomes peaceable political debate and affiliation whereas rejecting politically-induced violence.
Mbah’s authorities could be very assured in its insurance policies and is ready to clarify its selections, publish related efficiency information – because it did lately – and reply legit questions from residents, journalists, civil-society organisations and political opponents.
Opposition events, on their half, ought to be capable to marketing campaign, organise lawful conferences, criticise authorities insurance policies constructively and current various programmes with out hoodwinking. Their allegations needs to be evidence-based.
The electoral course of should stay the constitutional means by means of which residents select their leaders. No social gathering ought to try and get hold of by means of violence what it ought to search by means of persuasion and lawful democratic participation.
The proper of Ndi Enugu to vote freely, organise peacefully and make knowledgeable selections is inseparable from the state’s broader dedication to public security. Like Mbah mentioned lately, “I understand how a lot our folks worth the peace and safety we’ve labored so exhausting to ascertain in Enugu. Incidents corresponding to these trigger nervousness and deserve our full consideration. Every citizen, no matter their political affiliation, should be capable to train their political rights with out concern or violence.
The Enugu State Government has made its place clear concerning allegations of involvement on this violence. Our elementary accountability as a authorities is to guard lives, uphold the regulation, and be certain that justice is pursued with out favour.”
The above assurance caps all of it. Indeed, Tomorrow is right here!
•Dr. Agbo is Enugu State Commissioner for Information.
