Imo uncovers 3,000 ghost workers, raises community policing panel

The Imo State government at the weekend said it had uncovered 3,000 ghost workers in its civil service. Governor Hope Uzodimma, who made the disclosure in Owerri, pointed out that the discovery had saved his administration of about N2 billion in wage bill, adding that his insistence for civil servants to produce their Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs), mobile lines and related details led to the feat.

He restated that the wealth of the state would be deployed to benefit majority of the people, revealing that the state was targeting a monthly N5 billion internally generated revenue (IGR) from the N600 million figure he met, which has since risen to N1.2 billion.

Uzodimma blamed the state’s low revenue drive to the activities of consultants in the past, which he stated his government had disengaged. Besides, the governor has State Community Policing/Advisory Committee under his leadership to enhance security through participatory contributions. During its inauguration in the capital, he urged the panel to fish out criminals in all of the state’s 645 autonomous communities and villages.

The chief executive reminded the panel that the Federal Government had approved the inauguration to bring “peaceful co-existence among indigenes and non-indigenes as well as ethnic groups and tribes.”He clarified that the committee was an equivalent of a security agency, rather to partner with law enforcement bodies to ensure the safety of lives and property.

Uzodimma urged the state Commissioner of Police, Isaac Akinmoyede, to work out the modalities for the replication of the panel at the zonal, local government and community levels, pledging necessary assistance.

In his speech, a Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Celestine Okoye, reminisced the history of community policing in Igboland, commending the governor for reactivating the concept and describing him as a “security-friendly governor.”

Speaking for the committee, the monarch of Amaifeke autonomous community, Orlu, Eze Emmanuel C. Okeke, assured the people that they would put in their best.