We won’t allow Boko Haram in S’East -Obiano

Barely 24 hours after security operatives discovered bombs planted in the premises of a branch of Living Faith World Bible Church, a.k.a. Winners Chapel, in Owerri, Imo State, Governor Willy Obiano of Anambra State on. Monday said Boko Haram sect would not be allowed to operate in the South East. Obiano spoke with State House correspondents shortly after state governors from the geo-political zone met with President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. He said state governors in the state were alert and watching events as they unfold. He assured stakeholders that members of the sect would not be given room to survive in the zone. He said, “No, they (members of Boko Haram) can’t get there (South East); I can assure you of that. We will not allow that to happen. “I can’t tell you in any material details about bombs found or not found. All I can assure you is that we are very alert in the South East and we are watching what is going on. “I can assure you that Boko Haram cannot come to the South East.” Obiano said the governors decided to meet with Jonathan to assure him of their support as he faces the challenges of nation building. He claimed the President is under immense pressure and that some unnamed persons are making his work more tedious for him. He said those in that category of making Jonathan’s job more difficult kept “adding kerosene to fire” instead of supporting him to take the nation out of the woods. He said, “The President is a human being and he is under a lot of pressure and some other people are making the work a lot more difficult for him. “Instead of supporting him to steer us out of these stormy waters, they are adding kerosene to fire. “So we are here to tell him that we are here supporting him and that he should count on us.” On the menace of erosion ravaging states in the zone, Obiano disclosed that the World Bank with the state governments are working on a lot of erosion sites already. He said the four erosion sites they are working on have been expanded to 12. He said the intervention which is a 50150 per cent contribution would go a long way in helping to tackle the erosion sites in the states. “We are also tackling erosion from the legal point of view. Bush burning will no longer be allowed, so also is cutting roads to lay pipes to houses. “These are some of the factors that lead to erosion. We want people to do the necessary things that they should do; we want people to stop termination of drainages abruptly. “We are putting a law in place to ensure that anybody that violates the law will face the consequences,” he added. Other governors who attended the meeting were Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State; Governor Martins Elechi of Ebonyi State and Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State. Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State was absent at the meeting.