The federal government has taken action to combat instability in the southeast by implementing a community-driven strategy.
In order to discuss the urgent security issues facing the South-East, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Community Engagement (South-East), Barrister Chioma Nweze, met with General Christopher Musa (rtd.), the Minister of Defence.
Senior Ministry of Defence officials and members of the Presidential Community Engagement Team met, and the main topic of conversation was how to improve cooperation through non-kinetic and community-driven security measures.
Enhancing intelligence collecting through organised community involvement, communicating government security interventions to local communities more effectively, providing the Ministry with grassroots feedback, and strengthening public-security agency trust were the main objectives of the meeting.
The meeting also decided to create a joint working group with representatives from the federal, state, and municipal governments to organise regional security summits throughout the South-East.
It is anticipated that the summits will give citizens a forum to freely express their security concerns and offer workable answers.
In order to guarantee ongoing coordination, prompt information exchange, and efficient follow-up on agreed-upon initiatives, a direct line of contact was also created between the Presidential Community Engagement Team and the Ministry of Defence.
Furthermore, both parties decided to put engagement and the creation of focused programs first in order to engage young people in constructive ways, deter them from engaging in activities that increase insecurity, and address the socioeconomic issues at the root of discontent.
Speaking soon after the meeting, Nweze said the cooperation signifies a reinvigorated Federal Government commitment to community-led peacebuilding initiatives and participatory security management in the South-East and throughout the nation.