Insecurity in Nigeria is multidimensional – Rivers Neighborhood Watch boss
Lorine Emenike
The director general of the Rivers State Neighborhood Watch and Safety Agency Dr. Uche Mike Chukwuma has described the insecurity growing in the country as a multidimensional issue as it is prevalent both at the national and state level.
Dr. Chukwuma who made the observation in an interview with our correspondent advised the government to properly utilize intelligence information obtained from the public as part of effort to curb the menace.
“The insecurity issue in the country is multidimensional and we have the issues at the federal level, we have those at the state level.
“But I believe that those at the national level should be able to listen to the voices of those they think as commoners and then see how they would harness the information that come to them and they manage them properly for the interest of the generality of the society.
“For now, nobody is comfortable at the level of insecurity in the country, generally speaking”
He also called for the decentralization of power noting that centralization slows down decisions making.
“A situation where command flows from Abuja, centrally from Abuja and trickles down to the various states and compliance slowly goes back and you not knowing what they are thinking about in Abuja is affecting a lot of decisions at the local and state levels. So they should allow states to manage their policing architecture so as to be able to manage internal security of their states and their borders”
Thunder kills 12 cows in Delta
No fewer than a dozen of cows have been reportedly struck dead by thunder at Urhodo-Ovu community of Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State.
It was gathered that the thunder, struck following a light rain killing over 12 cows grazing on farmland while the herders fled the scene in fear.
It could not be ascertained when the incident occurred as of the time of filing the report.
But it was gathered that shortly after the cows dropped dead, their stomachs got swollen.
Sources said the herders had been in the habit of destroying farmlands in the area and the affected farmers had severally complained to the herders to no avail.
The incident was said to have attracted sympathisers from neighbouring villages who were said to be in shock over the incident as well as elated that the herders had been paid back in their own coin.
A similar incident was said to have also occurred in other towns and communities in the area unreported.
Acting Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Delta Command, DSP Bright Edafe, could not confirm the incident when contacted, on Thursday morning.
Seadogs warn against military action in South East, South South
The National Association of Seadogs popularly known as Pyrates Confraternity (NAS) has warned Federal Government against extra-judicial killing and harassment of people of South East and South-South geopolitical zones.
In a statement by the Capoon, Mr. Abiola Owoaje in Abuja, NAS said that the taking over different parts of the country by non-state actors was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.
The group’s warning came on the heels of the approval of new security measures for Southeast and South-South by President Muhammadu Buhari.
NAS statement titled “The Growing Tempest in the East and South” said that the recent reports of armed attacks on security formations in the South-East and South-South regions of Nigeria, and the resultant unfortunate deaths of security personnel, are quite troubling and unsettling.
“Undoubtedly the South-East has been a simmering cauldron of resentment and ill-will towards security agencies, fuelled by ceaseless perceptions of harassment and oppression.
“The current siege on the region by non-state actors was clearly a ticking bomb just waiting to go off.
“Beginning from March 2021, the Nigerian Correctional Centre in Owerri, Imo State, the State Police Command Headquarters, and various other police formations and checkpoints in Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi and Anambra States have come under varying degrees of attack with police officers losing their lives, while caches of arms and ammunition have been brazenly carted away.
“More worrisome was the recent news of an ammunition-laden truck which accidentally fell into a ditch in Onitsha, Anambra State, spilling its contents.
“Thankfully, the live bullets, which would have found their way into the wrong hands and subsequently used to perpetrate heinous crimes, were safely secured.
“In the South-South region, police formations and checkpoints in Akwa-Ibom and Rivers States have also been attacked, with policemen killed and their arms stolen.
“Between the 8th and 9th of May, 12 police officers, and the wife of a policeman, were killed in Akwa-Ibom and Rivers States.
“Reports have put the total number of policemen killed in the two states at 32 since the multiple attacks on police formations commenced in the region.
“Before the spate of attacks, Bayelsa, Cross River and Delta States had featured prominently in the list of states the United States government had advised American citizens to avoid in its latest travel advisory, due to increasing incidents of kidnapping, maritime criminality, and other violent crimes.
“The latest upsurge in attacks on security formations has worsened the prevalent insecurity in the region, making it, with the exception of Edo State, a veritable danger zone.
“The National Association of Seadogs (Pyrates Confraternity) condemns these attacks on security personnel and formations in the strongest possible terms.
“We offer our heartfelt condolences to the families that have lost loved ones to these reprehensible crimes.
“The government should do all within the confines of the law to ensure that the perpetrators and their sponsors are arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law for these despicable atrocities.
“It is, however, important that the security services do not engage in presumption group-blame, collective punishment, and extra-judicial killings in the course of investigating these crimes, as such unbridled illegalities and high-handedness will only go to further alienate local communities, and deepen the antipathy that already characterises the relationship between them and law enforcement agencies.
“We are greatly disturbed that these horrifying developments have exacerbated the deteriorating security situation in the country.
“Their far-reaching implications for economic activities and the ability of security agencies to protect lives and property in the two regions are grave.
“We advise that the government moves swiftly, and with unaccustomed competence and diligence, to arrest the current climate of insecurity across the two regions.
“This gradual slide into anarchy in the South-East and South-South regions has the potential to expand the number of ungoverned spaces in Nigeria, further stretch our security apparatus, and engender devastating social and economic consequences for the country as a whole.
“We urge the security agencies in the two regions to resist the temptation of seeing themselves as a force of occupation out to subjugate the people and unleash terror among the teeming law-abiding citizens.
“They should approach their task with a sincerity of purpose, and rein in the criminal elements intent on foisting terror and bloodletting.
“Evidence abound of previous overzealous interventions by security agencies which have aggravated insecurity in the two regions rather than contain the same.
“Unprofessional conduct and prejudice from those entrusted with such operations must not be tolerated.
“The government and security agencies have a constitutional duty to protect the lives and property of the peace-loving residents of the two regions from harm.
“No innocent Nigerian should be harassed, intimidated, or made to suffer under any guise of combing for suspected criminal elements in the South-East and South-South regions.”
Security agencies kill five in Rivers community
No less than five people have been killed by the operatives of the Nigerian army, the Police and the Onelga Security Planning Advisory Committee, in Iriebe, Obio-akpor local government area of Rivers state.
It was gathered that the security operatives launched the attack at the Okporo village of Iriebe Community at about 12.30am on Thursday.
They were reportedly in search of members of Indigenous People Of Biafra, IPOB.
Residents of the area who spoke on the conditions of anonymity said that the security operatives attacked the building, shooting at anything that moved.
Two women and three men were killed during the attack while others escaped with bullet wounds.
