The Rivers State Police Command has warned youths against getting involved with cults, saying that youths get enticed by deceptive claims of being protected and gaining power and money from their association, which ends up in violence and criminal behavior.
This information was released on Wednesday through the spokesperson for the first sCommand, Blessing Kaborlo,
The warnings were issued in the context of the relaunch of the POCACOV campaign organized by the command in response to a national directive from Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu to curb cultism, drug abuse, youth violence and other social ills.
At the relaunch ceremony held in Port Harcourt, the Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Adepoju, stated that most of the claims that one can join and exit from cult membership freely were lies, pointing out that many who tried to quit were intimidated, assaulted and even killed.
Read Also: Crisis Rocking ADC Engineered Says Analyst
Adepoju further urged youths to avoid being recruited into cults as the only way to achieve success is through discipline and hard work.
In addition, he encouraged the parents, teachers, religious and traditional leaders, youth groups, among other stakeholders to help in discouraging cultism by mentoring the youths, instilling good values and reporting any suspicious behavior to the relevant security agencies.
According to Adepoju, the command will ensure that POCACOV awareness campaigns continue in schools, tertiary institutions, churches, mosques, markets, motor parks and communities in the state to dissuade youths from engaging in cultism and other criminal activities.
He further stated the commitment of the command to ensuring the safety of the citizens through the process of community policing and partnering with various stakeholders in the process of crime prevention.
Kaborlo urged residents to communicate with the CRU and Control Room through the following numbers: 07057605209, 07057605256, 08120822987, 07072323049, and 08032003514 respectively.
