The police in Rivers on Tuesday said that cultists and thugs that had lost patronage from politicians were behind the upsurge in killings in the state.
DSP Nnamdi Omoni, the command’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt.
Omoni said the police were aware of the upsurge in crime in the state, stressing that the command had put in place adequate measures to tackle this.
He stated that the killings were not strange to the police as politicians who had armed the cultists and thugs had now turned their backs on them.
“The issue is these boys have lost patronage from their paymasters, so they want money via crime by asking for royalty and all manner of payments from residents of the community.
“We cannot allow that to fester, we will arrest them and bring them to justice.
“This has really put the boys into some kind of confusion, and we are capitalising on that.
“We have penetrated into their ranks, and I can assure you that in no time, they will be rounded-up, arrested and brought to justice.
“ They will be overtaken and made to account for their evil,” he said.
Omoni stated that normalcy had already been restored in Mgbuodia community in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state after the killing that took place there.
“When we got the information, we mobilised our men to the community, men of the Nigerian Navy were also there, so we were able to put the situation under control.
“We restored normalcy, and even those that left, we spoke with them, and asked them to return,” he added.
He said 10 persons were arrested in the wake of the development, adding that they were currently helping the police.
