Strenghtening security ahead of end of Year and New Year Feastivities

Publish On : 14 November 2023

On high instructions of the Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Paul Biya, the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defence, Beti Assomo Joseph chaired a special security evaluation meeting prior to the upcoming end of year and New Year festivities at the Conference Hall of his ministerial department on Monday November 13, 2023.

The in-camera meeting was dedicated to assess the country’s security situation and mobilize all Defence and security stakeholders in ensuring a smooth end of year festivities 2023 and the New Year 2024 throughout the national territory.

During his discourse, Minister Beti Assomo Joseph situated the context within which the meeting is taking place. Within the complexity and interdependence of dealing with all security issues throughout the country particularly at a time when the end of year and New Year feasts are on the horizon and the social economic concerns of people are top priority.

This special gathering comes up five weeks before the feast of Nativity 2023 and six weeks before that of the New Year 2024 because this period is generally characterized by a rise in economic activities and a large flow of people and goods. Accompanied by understandable excesses and increase in crime wave hence, it is held against the backdrop of global security context plagued by war in the Middle East which has led to the proliferation of acts of hatred in some parts of the world, this comes to add to the Ukrainian crisis which has exposed disruption in global economic flows and therefore negatively influencing the purchasing power of the population at this critical time.

Following the most recent atrocity committed by secessionists in Mamfe last November 6, which left more than 20 dead, an in-depth round up of the country’s general situation, particularly in the Far North, South West and North West regions was tabled.

Following insecurity on the Eastern borders and maritime piracy threats, collaboration between Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville and Sao Tome and Principe is necessary. Not forgetting the need for active collaboration between denizens in urban towns such as Douala and Yaounde with the Defence and Security Forces to eradicate insecurity.

The meeting was attended by the two Secretaries of State to the Minister of Defence, the Delegate General for National Security, the Chief of Defence Staff, the representative of the Minister of Territorial Administration, the heads of Special State Services, top military officials amongst whom were the territorial commanders.