By Jonathan Ugbal: Government House Correspondent
Cross River Governor, Senator Ben Ayade will on Wednesday, distribute about 100 vehicles to security agencies including the newly created Homeland Security and Safety Agency (HLS) and the Green Police sources in Government House Calabar say.
A source close to the Chief Security Officer to the governor told CrossRiverWatch that: “The branding must be concluded today as the governor will commission them tomorrow (Wednesday)”.
The vehicles include Isuzu trucks and Kia Rio totaling almost 100 with the Nigeria Police Force said to be beneficiaries of the unbranded Isuzu trucks and Kia Rio vehicles.
However, there are concerns regarding the quality of the branding done as staff told CrossRiverWatch in friendly chats that the job could have been better had money been released on time.
Also, the contractor branding the vehicles and installing amber warning lights as well as sirens, as at press time, was yet to complete the job.
Furthermore, there are questions about the HLS logo which has what looks like a Colt M4 Heckler or a Heckler and Koch HK416N assault rifle on it, with the agency said to be a non arm bearing outfit for community policing and intelligence gathering.
The governor had earlier distributed Ford Ranger trucks to the Green Police which were later re-allocated to security agencies following an upsurge of criminal activities.
CrossRiverWatch had earlier reported that the Cross River State Government had purchased the vehicles for security purposes after a deal to provide them for civil servants failed following concerns over the interest rates raised by the state chapter of the Nigeria Labor Congress.
With the HLS yet to recruit staff, it is still unclear who will use the vehicles.