The Abia State Government is set to inaugurate the establishment of a Unified Task Force to combat touting effectively.
Commissioner for Information and Culture, Prince Okey Kanu disclosed this during a press briefing at Government House Umuahia after the State Executive Council (SEC) meeting chaired by the Governor of the State, Dr. Alex Otti,
He also disclosed plans for a retreat to prepare members of the Taskforce before their official inauguration by the State government.
He emphasised the importance of this retreat in ensuring the Taskforce operates professionally and adheres to established guidelines.
The Taskforce will comprise representatives from various Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), and Local Government Areas in the metropolis.
Its primary objective is to address concerns regarding touting and unnecessary harassment of Abia citizens and residents.
Prince Kanu expressed optimism that the Task Force’s establishment would effectively mitigate these issues, creating a safer and more conducive environment for everyone in Abia State.
“There will be a retreat later in the week for the take off of the unified task force being sponsored by the state government. That is the one stop task force that will handle all issues of enforcement and government initiatives across the state.
“The Retreat would grant them the opportunity to dot every i and cross every T’s prior to their formal outing. Once they are in place, every issue about touting and unnecessary harassment of Abia citizens and residents would cease” Prince Kanu assured.
Contributing, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Mr Ferdinand Ekeoma underscored the importance of the Unified Taskforce, which operates across six zones, with two in Umuahia and four in Aba. Each zone will have designated coordinators tasked with upholding the mandate of the Taskforce.
He reiterated that the primary goal of the Taskforce is to eradicate illegal practices such as harassment and extortion of the state’s citizens and residents, while establishing a transparent and duly compensated framework.
Ekeoma emphasised the government’s commitment to ending activities associated with touting and illegal task forces, which previously preyed on individuals through harassment and extortion.
The reorganised Taskforce represents a departure from this old order, aiming for a more structured and accountable approach.
“The essence of what the government is doing as far as this one is concerned is to bring to an end to anything that has to do with touting, illegal taskforces and all the rest of them.
“We were used to having individuals harassing people, intimidating them, extorting them in the name of task force so we want to move away from that old order and that is why, this one is well organised.
“The members (of the taskforce) will be known, they are all going to be remunerated. It is not the one where people will just do all kinds of things to make money and put it in their pockets in the name of collecting revenue for the government. They are going to operate in a most responsible manner”, Mr Ekeoma assured