Cross River Security Taskforce, ‘Operation Skolombo’ Inaugurated

By Jonathan Ugbal; Government House Correspondent

The security task force of the Cross River State government, code named Operation Skolombo, has been inaugurated with the charge to rid the state of criminals.

The state governor Benedict Ayade had as earlier reported by CrossRiverWatch appointed Brig. General Mannix Nyiam rtd. as the Chairman of the taskforce alongside four others who were inaugurated today in Calabar.

Ayade who inaugurated the committee posited that the state needed to draw inspiration from her very best during challenging moments and tagged the event as a homecoming for the state’s best in the security sector.

He absolved the selection process of politicking opining that security was the fulcrum upon which his administration’s signature projects will thrive. “Let me assure you that the essence of this taskforce is not a political appointment. It is the understanding of the challenges of our people and our times.

“You are aware that we have great ideas in key signature projects. The intention is that those projects will create a new economy that can sustain our people and give us independence. All of those things in our plan, political and economical, they would amount to nothing if we don’t have the right security in place”.

Ayade who said the state prides itself as the most peaceful in the country said the report of incidents hitherto unheard of in the state informed the formation of the task force and other measures to ensure security.

“Other states have come with stiff penalties and have an aggressive campaign against criminality, a lot of those people will find a safe haven in Cross River State if we don’t take proactive action and that is why this committee is coming at a time that is imperative, born at a time when the state is setting up a new agenda that will transform and change the concept of governance where government will also be a business concerned” a concept he said was “well appreciated in Asian countries and finding its feet in Africa” before adding that “because Cross River State is leading that new thinking where government must do business in order that we keep our people in business, we therefore must build the fulcrum of our security to sustain that which we will build”.

The other four members of the committee are Lawrence Alobi, a retired police Commissioner, Colonel Ekanem Ikpeme rtd. A retired Deputy Police Commissioner, Bassey Inyang and Inyang Yibala a security consultant.