Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello has advised commercial institutions to show more commitment to the fight against insecurity as part of their contributions to a safe and secure society.
The governor made this call while receiving the Committee of Bankers in Kogi State at the Government House in Lokoja.
The governor said that with the situation of rising insecurity in the country, there was a need for collaboration and synergy to fight the menace, adding that although Kogi State has experienced peace, his administration would remain vigilant.
He said that insecurity had, in recent times, taken a new dimension in the country; hence they must take a step ahead of the criminals and stamp out the menace.
Governor Bello urged them and other commercial centres in the state to fix high-tech Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras around their branches which would not just cover the banking premises but also the neighbourhood as much as possible. He also urged that the CCTV should be manned during working hours.
The spokesperson of the forum, Mr Asanato Sunday, an Assistant Director at the Central Bank commended the governor over his commitment to fighting insecurity in the state. He noted that the commercial institutions in the state would work to contribute to the fight against insecurity in the state.
Before now, Kogi State, including Lokoja, the capital, witnessed incessant bank robberies which nearly submerged the operations of financial institutions in the state as nearly 15 bank robberies were recorded in a space of months between 2014 and 2015.
The administration, however, made efforts to rid the state of such occurrences which in the past six years had yielded great results.