By Odimegwu Onwumere
 |
Onwumere |
Governor Chibuike Amaechi did
something unbelievable of a distinctive Nigerian governor on 17th May, 2012.
His speedy response through a television broadcast quelling the minds of the
residents on the explosion which nearly sent the residents packing does not
only require commendation but has taught the residents that the governor was
not ruling the state from abroad as was a speculation in many quarters before
the incident.
This television broadcast is an
eloquently assurance by the state government in reiterating its promise that
the residents are assured of their security, if the number one citizen of the
state could give the residents an unflinching optimism that he’s always with
them at anytime.
Amaechi being present within the
period has taught something: There is no amount of details of armed robbery
activities that were capable of deterring Rivers
State, which initially experienced
virtually an hour occurrence of armed robbery activities around banks in the
state capital, Port Harcourt;
but this has been reduced to the barest diminution.
It is relatable that criminals
stayed away from Rivers State because even the ‘land’ and everything therein
have joined hands in the fight against criminality as the residents have
witnessed in the dynamite that exploded around Rumuokoro which incapacitated
the alleged “bank robbers” from carrying out their shoddy business on that day.
Amaechi is walking his talk on
security. It could be recalled that in a national newspaper of 7th November
2011, Amaechi spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. David Iyofor that he
was on ground in making sure that the state is a nonviolent place to reside and
devoid of inhumane activities of the men of the underworld.
His warning that criminals should
stay away from the state, could be seen that it was not a mere rhetoric as
peace has returned to the state, except for those who dread peace and invite
violent activities for their selfish and demonic purposes.
In the aforementioned month of 2011,
Iyofor said: “The governor is working tirelessly in collaboration with security
agencies in the state and would stop at nothing to ensure that these acts of
criminality are nipped in the bud.”
Amaechi was so pained that criminals
in the state then were targeting banks and their customers because of the
yuletide season of 2011. And Iyofor whispered: “Our investigations have
revealed that these robberies are perpetrated by gangs who are in a mad rush
for money to spend in the fast approaching yuletide season. These bank and
associated robberies we are seeing in the past few weeks are Christmas related.
But we want to assure residents of the State that new and fresh security
measures are now in place to deal with these criminals. We want to assure
residents of Port Harcourt
that we are on the trail of these criminal gangs, and sooner than later, they
would have to answer for all their heinous crimes. Specific security
arrangements have been put in place to deal with these criminal elements. We
urge the people to remain calm and extremely vigilant as they go about their
daily business.”
While the Amaechi-led government
achievements on security is admirable, it should originate steps towards
engaging adequate and qualified manpower in its primary and post primary steps
in ensuring security, with the traditional rulers empowered and the communities
always sensitized through the media of the dangers of insecurity if allowed in
the state.
The traditional rulers should be
subjected to screening examination to ascertain their saintliness in the
environments that they rule.
Just as the Amaechi-led government
was reportedly has built over 2, 590 new primary schools and model schools in
some local government areas of the state, while many more are at various stages
of completion, it should think about building Army checkpoints at every
strategically areas of the state, like the one it built for Police near the old
Toll Gate at Iriebe, Port Harcourt.
Why this is important is because the
development will to a great extent reduce the number of petty criminal reports Rivers State
is recording and transform the state to a much better one. Police should also
deploy their men on street-by-street patrol; the intention here should not be
to catch Okada riders and Keke NAPEP operators and ‘innocent youths’ who are
far in essence not the cause of the problem of insecurity of the society.
If it will be possible, Amaechi
should embark on unscheduled visits to the police stations in Rivers State as
he was doing to schools, and be shocked that many of the Divisional Police
Officers (DPOs) are hardly on seat hence making the policemen under their watch
to behave like sheep without shepherds; and the inmates in their police
stations are meted out with treatments that were not supposed for a beast.
In a nutshell, the explosion in Port Harcourt which Amaechi expressed an extraordinary
emergency to, and drew attention to, he should in the same manner un-relentlessly
show the same speedy response to all sectors in Rivers State.
We wish Amaechi the best.
Odimegwu Onwumere is the Coordinator, Concerned
Non-Indigenes In Rivers State (CONIRIV).
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