By Ifeanyi Olannye
Asaba – Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta says security agencies have reduced incidents of kidnapping in the state to the barest minimum.
Okowa said this in Asaba when Prof. Sunny Iyuke, the Principal, Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun, led top management of the institution to pay him a courtesy visit.
He said that most of the arrested kidnappers were young men who were not from the southern part of the country.
According to the governor, the judiciary has been very proactive following the signing into law of the Delta State Anti-Cultism and Anti-Terrorism Bill 2016.
He, therefore, urged the people to be vigilant in order to checkmate the activities of kidnappers.
He said that six special courts had been set up to try those who were arrested for kidnapping and acts of terrorism in the state.
“We are confident that issues of kidnapping and related offences would be a thing of the past in our state in the nearest future to enhance the socio-economic life of the people,” he said.
The governor assured the management of PTI of his administration’s continued assistance to Federal Government’s institutions.
In addition, he said that the state government was giving due attention to failed federal roads.
Furthermore, he said that the Chief Job Creation Officer in the state would utilise PTI facilities to train some of the beneficiaries of the skills acquisition programmes of the state government.
Okowa disclosed that more than 4,000 youths had been trained under the different skills acquisition programmes, adding that the beneficiaries were also being equipped to enable them to succeed in their chosen fields.
On the issue of Delta Glass Company and the Asaba Textile Mill, the governor said that the challenges of receivership of the companies was being addressed in the overall interest of the state.
Earlier, Iyuke had listed some areas the PTI could partner with the Delta State government and had commended the governor’s developmental strides in the state.
