The Ebonyi Government has announced a N2 million cash reward for anyone with useful information that could lead to the arrest of bandits terrorising some parts of the state.
Gov. Dave Umahi announced this during an inter-denominational prayer summit organised in Abakaliki on Friday by the Office of the Wife of the Governor, in conjunction with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
Umahi also announced a “comprehensive amnesty” for repentant bandits.
He said: “I’m offering a comprehensive amnesty for repentant bandits and terrorists.
“Do not be part of agitation groups, do not be part of killings.
“Anywhere you are and you an Ebonyi man, whether in the West or South-East, I am ready to stop everything to empower you. We are ready to empower our youths,” he said.
The governor refuted the reports in the social media that Ebonyi indigenes were responsible for the violent activities of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Anambra and Enugu states.
Governor Umahi vowed that the state would not be in Biafra but Nigeria. He also commended the Wife of the President for initiating the summit for Nigeria to seek the face of God over the seemingly intractable security problems confronting the nation.
He said as leaders they would work with God and the people to enthrone peace in all parts of the country.
According to him, peace and security should be the collective responsibility of everyone.
“Buhari has invoked the face of God and today what governors cannot solve, what Military Generals cannot solve, what security agencies cannot solve, she has remembered that God is the owner of the entire universe,” Umahi said.
He urged IPOB and Eastern Security Network to disband and allow governors and other South-East leaders to pursue political solution to the agitation against marginalisation.
Earlier, his wife, Rachel, extolled the president’s wife for directing the prayer summit, which aimed at seeking the face of God to restore peace in the country.
She said: “Our coming together is to seek the face of God over the security challenges and other problems facing the nation.
“Through our constant prayers, we can overcome the rising cases of killing, armed robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes in our country.
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She said the summit was organised in line with Mrs Aisha Buhari’s directive to seek divine intervention over the protracted security challenges bedevilling the nation.
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