ENUGU—SPEAKER of Enugu State House of Assembly, Mr Eugene Odo, has expressed disgust over the “worsening security situation in the state.”

Odo, who said this in Enugu during plenary, yesterday, urged the relevant security agencies to step up the protection of lives and property in the state.

He said the assembly might invite the commissioner of police in the state to appear before the lawmakers to explain the security situation.

He said: “It is quite unfortunate that in the last six, seven months, the security situation in Enugu State has actually worsened and we think that something needs to be done about it.

“We say this emphatically because what we had witnessed in the past six, seven to eight months, is not something to bear with.

“The rate at which matters are being dispensed in terms of investigation at our different police stations, is not encouraging and it’s quite disappointing.”

Odo noted that matters which ordinarily were meant to go to court were not done in that way, alleging that innocent citizens were at times incarcerated while criminals enjoyed freedom on the streets.

The speaker recalled that the ban on motorcycles as a means of transport in the state was done out of sincere feelings for the people as the essence was not to occasion punitive measures on the riders but to control crime.

Odo urged the relevant committees of the assembly to liaise with other government agencies to provide palliatives for the commercial motorcyclists who lost their jobs in the course of the ban.

He also urged the chairman of the assembly committee on local government to interface with the 17 council chairmen to explain in details efforts made to eradicate poverty in their areas.

The speaker said the assessment must be very visible as there must be a fundamental approach adopted by each of the chairmen toward provision of job and training of artisans to improve their living standards.

Odo advised the relevant committees to give the assessment the serious attention it deserved as they would be expected to give detailed reports of the exercise.