Abia State governor, Dr Alex Otti, yesterday, presented five Armoured Personnel Carriers, APCs, to the Nigeria Police Force.
Speaking during the handover ceremony at the Government House, Umuahia, Governor Otti restated the state government’s commitment to enhance peace and security of the state.
He said his administration, upon assumption of office in 2023, met the vehicles in terrible state of disrepair and swung into action to get them functional because they have “long staying power.”
Otti said he took the bold step of repairing the vehicles with the last one in Abuja for further repairs and refurbishing.
“When we came in exactly 20 months ago, on May 29, 2023, we saw littered here, these vehicles in a very terrible state of disrepair.
“I know that these vehicles have long staying power, we took a very principled decision to refurbish one or two of them; by the time we started, we found out that it was not too difficult.
“I authorised that about six of them be repaired, five of them are ready, completely retrofitted and they are as good as new, while we are still struggling with the last one.
“It is all about maintenance and our belief is that never again would we allow our assets to be dilapidated.
“A lot of things that we throw away can be easily fixed and we have demonstrated it,” he said.
Otti emphasised the need for the people of Abia to cultivate maintenance culture because it takes a lot of money to repair dilapidated assets.
He urged the police to ensure that the vehicles are utilised appropriately with the application of regular maintenance.
“So I will charge the men that would use it to ensure that they are used carefully and anything that needs to be repaired, repair it quickly, because if you don’t, you will spend a lot to do so.
“I am glad that we are here today to return five of them to the police,” he said.
Responding, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Danladi Isa thanked government for its numerous support to the police.
Isa emphasised the importance of the armoured personnel carriers in enhancing security operations.
He also promised that the vehicles would be judiciously used to enhance peace and security in the state.
