From CHARLES ONYEKWERE, ABAKALIKI
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement (South East), Chioma Nweze, met with the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (rtd), to address pressing security challenges confronting the South East region.
The high-level meeting, brought together members of the Presidential Community Engagement Team and senior officials of the Ministry of Defence, with discussions focused on strengthening collaboration through community-driven and non-kinetic security strategies.
At the engagement, both parties emphasised the critical role of grassroots participation in tackling insecurity, noting that sustainable peace can only be achieved through trust-based engagement between communities and security institutions.
It was gathered that the key areas of deliberation include; enhancing intelligence gathering through structured community engagement, improving the communication of government security interventions to local communities, relaying grassroots feedback to the Ministry, and deepening trust between citizens and security agencies.
The meeting also resolved to establish a joint working team that will coordinate regional security summits across the South East, involving local, state, and federal government stakeholders.
The summits are expected to provide a platform for citizens to openly present security concerns and contribute to practical solutions.
In addition, a direct communication channel was established between the Ministry of Defence and the Presidential Community Engagement Team to ensure sustained coordination, timely information sharing, and effective follow-up on agreed actions.
Both sides agreed to prioritise engagement and the development of targeted programmes aimed at positively engaging youths, discouraging their involvement in activities that fuel insecurity, and addressing the underlying socio-economic factors driving unrest.
The senior special assistant, who spoke after the meeting, said the partnership marks a renewed commitment by the federal government to inclusive security management and community-led peacebuilding efforts in the South East and across the country.
