Ibas, Oborevwori present as Shettima presides over NEC meeting

Rivers State Sole Administrator, Vice‑Admiral Ibok‑Ete Ekwe Ibas (retd.) and Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress, barely 24 hours ago, are both in attendance as Vice President Kashim Shettima presides over the 149th meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) at the State House, Abuja today.

Thursday’s meeting, which is the first since President Bola Tinubu declared emergency rule in Rivers state has the spate of insecurity and killings across the country atop its agenda, with the governors, some of whom were represented by their deputies, meeting amid fresh attacks in Plateau, Benue, Borno, and Enugu states.

Since early April, more than 120 locals have been shot, hacked, or burnt to death in Plateau State alone, according to Amnesty International and multiple eyewitness accounts with relief agencies saying the toll is higher, citing coordinated night raids on Bokkos and Bassa that left burnt homes and 3,000 displaced in Plateau. In Benue, at least 56 people were recently killed in Logo and Gbagir after twin assaults blamed on armed herders.

The creation of state police is said not to be on the agenda, despite all states having submitted their reports for the creation of State Police at NEC’s 147th meeting last December.