Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Eno Umo has ordered the employment of 1,500 women and 3,500 men into the State’s new security outfit known as Ibom Community Watch (ICW).
Eno gave the order while launching the first set of 550 Ibom Community Watch Officers for Uyo Local Government held at Uyo Township Stadium on Friday.
He said, “I have not seen women in this recruitment. So, I’m directing that of the next 5,000 Ibom Community Watch officers that you want to recruit, 30 per cent (which amounts to 1,500) should go to women” and the remaining 70 per cent (3,500) should be for men.
He explained that the core vision of the outfit was to provide security and intelligence for the mainstream security services and ensure that government facilities are not vandalised.
“They are to work under very strict supervision and control by the main security agencies, especially the police. Their jobs will be to provide security information, to help in crowd control, to help protect basic Government assets and ensure that there is peace in all the areas where they are located,” the governor said.