Special Correspondent, JOE EZUMA, writes on Rivers State Police initiative at halting arms proliferation among the youth and tackling incidence of kidnapping and election violence.
Prof Attahiru Jega, INEC chairman.
On Friday August 1, 2014, Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi, while restating appeal for peaceful and credible election in 2015, warned politicians to stop buying arms for youths to achieve political ambition.
Amaechi, who was represented by his Deputy, Tele Ikuru, spoke at the launch of ‘Stop kidnapping’ campaign organised by the state police command, signalling the command’s renewed crackdown on kidnappers and cult members. The event, which was held at the Officers’ Mess, Port Harcourt, drew politicians, stakeholders in security matters, youths and professionals as well as kidnap victims.
Other dignitaries at the event include the State Commissioner of Police, Tunde Ogunsakin; Chairman Senate Committee on Defence, George Sekibo; kidnap victim, Mrs. Seinye Lulu-Briggs; Chief of Staff to Amaechi, Tony Okocha; representatives of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Professor Accra Jaja, among others.
The two key issues in the seminar were kidnapping and cultism, ways to fight them, and factors that aid the menace of cult and kidnapping.
Participants at the event had urged the police to investigate the tendency of kidnappers demanding and receiving ransom without being detected in the process, adding that that may be one reason the crime persists.
The persistent calls for arms control, especially among the youths, have not really gained the desired attention of Nigerians and the nation’s security agencies, hence the continued ease with which the perpetrators carry out their operations.
However, the peaceful conduct of the June 21, 2014 Ekiti governorship election and the August 9, 2014 Osun exercise may have awakened Nigerians to the need for a concerted effort to combat arms proliferation in the society.
Going by approvals that greeted the two elections and the commendations for both the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the presidency, as well as the security agencies that were involved in the polls, many have come to agree on the need for eradication of election-related violence, as well as control of arms in the hands of youths. Incidentally, it was those who complained about the militarisation of Ekiti election that were the first to commend the army, the police and other security agents for ensuring peaceful conduct of elections in the two states.
Some informed opinions have, however, pointed out that the Ekiti and Osun elections were not the first time the deployment of security personnel had helped to advance violence-free election. They recalled the 2010 governorship election in Anambra in which the former governor, Peter Obi of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), defeated Chris Ngige of the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). The case of Imo State supplementary governorship election of 2011 where Rochas Okorocha of then APGA trounced the then governor, Ikedi Ohakim of PDP, as well as the Edo State election that saw the re-election of Governor Adams Oshiomhole of then ACN also came to mind.
Analysts argue that it was the relative success recorded in these elections that had reinforced the calls for staggered elections in the country from some quarters. It also showed that the disarming of youths, whose easy access to weapons of violence will check election malpractices, curtails the twin crimes of cult and kidnapping.
This formed the focus of the Rivers Police Command’s anti- kidnapping and cultism campaign addressed by the seminar.
Amaechi traced the genesis of crime in the state to 2013. According to him, it is wrong for politicians to equip youths with arms because of their political interest, emphasising that after the elections, retrieving the arms becomes difficult.
His words: “You have acquired arms and armed the youths before elections. After elections, what happens? I say after elections, what happens? How do you get to retrieve these arms from them? You can never do it.”
The governor called on politicians, irrespective of their interest, political leaning or position to bear in mind that the society they live in is greater and more important than their ambition.
“So, it is very important that nobody, under any circumstance, should arm the youths in order to win an election, because, sooner or later, the election would be over. And, those same guns that served the purpose of delivery will turn against you. It will always happen. Now, the evil you do will catch up with you,” he remarked.
The governor stated further that the war against kidnapping could not be won physically, because it was an electronic crime, pointing out that the spate of kidnapping was the negative outcome of mobile communication (phone) in the country.
Amaechi said: “The genesis of kidnapping in Nigeria started with the emergence of mobile phone. Mobile phone is one of the best things that happened to this country. But the bad side of it is increase in crime, especially kidnapping, because if it was yesterday, when there was no mobile phone, if you stole (kidnapped) a man and you could not reach his place (family) to ask for ransom, or in the process of going to drop the letter, you were arrested; by the time it had occurred twice or thrice, nobody would tell you it was not a good venture. It would become less profitable. But with phone, you can stay in Aba and call somebody in Port Harcourt.
“The only way, I must say, that we can fight this crime is by electronic means because it is an electronic crime. We cannot fight it physically. You must be able to locate (the criminal), using the highest technology. That is the only way we can bring it under control.”
Chairman of the occasion, Senator Sekibo, in his opening stated, noted that the issue of crime and kidnapping had remained major problems to Nigerians, touching on families, friends and relatives. He lauded the Rivers State Police Command for taking proactive steps to tackle the problem.
Sekibo, who recalled that his wife had been a victim, emphasised that the safety of every society starts from the individual, He added: “If an individual does not provide the safety for himself, his family and immediate relation, then it impinges on the community and the larger society. The ability of the police and the nation to provide security begins with the individual efforts. There must be network of information sharing for security to be maintained.”
He commended the police in Rivers for taking the right step in the right direction.
In his address, Ogunsakin said that despite the relative success of the command in fighting kidnapping since his arrival in the state, the police still remain concerned with pockets of reported cases of the incidence in the state, promising that the menace would be contained.
“Kidnapping is not just a crime; it is a dent on civilisation and pushes the society back to the primitive era,” he lamented, noting, however, that the command has reduced the rate of abduction in the state to 50 per cent.
“I will make bold to state at this point that Rivers State, the South South and Nigeria’s development in general is under attack by various forms of criminal activities with terrorism/kidnapping at the top of the list. We cannot surrender to it; neither can we relent in our crusade against it.
“The ‘stop kidnapping campaign’ is not a mere campaign; it is our noble effort in taking policing above the present bar of arresting, investigating and prosecuting, to a point where the community is viewed as one impregnable tool for policing. As earlier pointed out, emphasis on prevention is paramount. The campaign is one of the humble attempts of the police in Rivers to create awareness and point to information-sharing as a key to successfully ending this scourge.
“Members of the public are to be vigilant and cooperative at the same time. Everyone is a stakeholder in this effort, and the time to view the police as a friend is now,” Ogunsakin declared.
He disclosed that the campaign was set to be launched in the area commands and respective divisions, with the intention of adequately informing the public on preventative activities to encourage citizens to file complaints with utmost trust.
“We hope to, at some point, march in solidarity through the streets of Rivers State and sign a 10-million man register in support of the ‘stop kidnapping’ campaign. I strongly believe in the notion that the family and religious bodies still serve as very powerful tools in the socialisation and acculturation of our children and youth, and thus I enjoin you all to get the young generation involved to the fullest.”
The new Anti-kidnap Unit of the Command, which was established in Port Harcourt, the state headquarters, had been replicated in two other area commands, including Ahoada and Bori.