The Inspector General of Police, Mr. Kayode Egbetokun has been commended for his support in the efforts his men have put to make Abia State enjoy a relative peace and stability.
Governor Otti expressed his gratitude to the IGP on Friday January 17, 2025 when he received the wife of the police boss, Mrs. Elizabeth Egbetokun and her delegation of the Police Officers’ Wives’ Association(POWA) that visited him at his Nvosi country home.
“By the grace of God, with the work of your husband and his team and other members of the security, we have enjoyed relative peace and order in Abia State,” he said.
The wife of the IGP, who is National President of POWA, was in Abia Friday on a working visit during which she carried out empowerment programme in the state.
Otti acknowled that his administration has continued to enjoy a cordial working relationship with the Nigerian Police, adding that it would be sustained alongside other security agencies towards achieving a more secure and peaceful Abia.
“As a Government, we are very determined to support the men that work for us. So, in addition to whatever is done at the centre for us, we sit down and design the architecture in such a way that it would work for us, and we work very closely with the Police Force,” he said.
The Abia Governor stated that notwithstanding the peace being enjoyed in the state “we are not resting on our oars” to ensure its sustenance.
“We will continue to improve to ensure that our people can sleep with their two eyes closed, even if we don’t sleep as people who are serving them,” Gov. Otti assured the POWA delegation.
Otti promptly granted a request made by the wife of the IGP and approved provision of land for the establishment of Skills Acquisition Centre for the empowerment of Police Officers’ Wives’ and their Children.
He said that his government has never shied away from supporting empowerment programmes that has direct bearing on the lives of the people.
The Abia Governor, aside from providing land for POWA, also promised to support the project in the area of providing manpower should the need arise.
He commended Mrs. Egbetokun on her mission to Abia, saying, “it is heartwarming that the fallen heroes amongst the members of the Police Force are not forgotten and that you have come to reach out to members of the POWA and LAPOWA.
“We want to underscore the point that for us here in Abia, we like to support empowerment but the empowerment we like to support is not necessarily giving fish but teaching people how to fish.
“It is on that note that I want to give assent to your request to set up a Skill Acquisition Center. You can take it for granted that it has been approved,” Otti said.
L-R, Commissioner of Police, Abia State, Danladi Isa, Wife of IGP and President of POWA, Mrs. Elizabeth Egbetokun, Governor Alex Otti, his wife, Priscilla, and AIG Zone 9, Suleiman Amuda Yusuf, during the working visit of Mrs. Egbetokun in Abia State.
The wife of the IGP had earlier in her remarks praised Gobernor Otti for the remarkable progress he has recorded reversing Abia’s road infrastructure deficit and enhancing the economic well-being of the people.
Mrs. Egbetokun said that POWA was committed to empowering women and children, especially the families of fallen police officers, by equipping them with skills that provide lifelong income opportunities.
She, therefore, appealed to Otti for assistance in acquiring land for a skill acquisition centre that would provide essential training for women and children of fallen heroes in Abia.