TheCable

Okezie Ikpeazu, governor of Abia state, says the greatest challenge of the state is kidnapping.

Ikpeazu said this when Lawrence Fejoku, the new commander of 14 brigade, Ohafia, visited him in Umuahia, the state capital, on Friday.

The governor said there had been incidence of kidnapping in some parts of the state in recent weeks.

“Security is pivotal to socio-economic advancement. The relationship between economic growth, infrastructure development and security are inextricable,’’ he said.

Ikpeazu said people were beginning to see Abia in positive light and the state government wants to step up security in order to prevent loss of investors.

“Considering the location of Abia and the fact that when neighbouring states step up security, some criminals escape from those states to Abia,” he said.

“So we want to make such occurence a thing of the past.”

Ikpeazu said the coming of the commander was timely and that with his background and training, he was confident that Fejoku would perform his assignment efficiently .

The governor said the state government considered Nigerian army as its ally and would give its unreserved support to the army.

Earlier, Fejoku said considering the fact that Abia was the hub of economic activities, the importance of security cannot be under estimated.

Fejoku said he would do everything within his power to make Abia a safe haven for everyone.