On New Year eve, amidst the familiar fire works in disobedience of regular Police warning, gunmen, suspected to be cultists invaded Marine Base. By the time residents realized that the bangs were gun-shots and made distress call to the Police, two bodies were found lifeless in a pool of their own blood.
One was later identified as an enemy ‘combatant’, while the second was a driver with the Rivers State Newspaper Corporation, on official duty that had nothing to do with cultists and their activities. He was caught up in the cross-fire, an innocent death.
That incident is only one of several examples of collateral damages to cult-related violence, senseless bloodletting and incessant warfare for either supremacy or reprisal. Infact, many innocent citizens have paid the supreme price, without necessarily being partakers of the orgy of violence known to cult gangs.
On the last count, some local government areas in Rivers State were invaded by competing cult groups, leaving behind every such attack, dead bodies, among them innocent defenceless men, women and children.
Most of these cult gangs are so heavily armed that they can take-over and run a community to the utter helplessness of local authorities. In some communities, they are governments unto themselves and impose all manner of sanctions for disobedience. Where there are sources of ready funds from either state, federal and or oil production activities, the rivalry among such cult groups is often fiercest.
The history of the armed gangs is traceable to many sponsors, key among them are politicians who most often were said to have armed them as alternative security men and thugs, during elections, with promises of heaven on earth.
These young men were very often abandoned by such benefactors afterwards without any effort to retrieve their weaponry. And so, like the monster that outgrows his master, the cult groups become danger not only to their masters but also to society from which they must feed.
The warfare is also very deadly where two or more such groups are domiciled in the same locality and one seen to be favoured by public institutions against others. In such rivalries, the ambition of each group is usually to instill fear and force obedience from ordinary people. At other times, efforts are made to enlarge membership through forced initiations.
By such brute force, they enforce their own laws and order and eventually earn phoney legitimacy from among the populace who out of fear become subservient. At such times, rival groups also stockpile arms to dislodge the status quo, and the cycle continues.
Such is the near-frequent recourse to violence. Some of them are also accused of complicity in the incessant cases of kidnap in the state and elsewhere, with inexplicable ransom-demands that eventually make the trade a lucrative pastime. But kidnapping is not the only indiscretion often ascribed to such groups. Some of their members it is said are also believed to be into robberies of different kinds.
What is astonishing is that it is believed that the Police indeed know the leaders and even members of such groups. They also know their hide-outs and could indeed engage them to a stand-still.
But to the Police, such confrontation would be futile without the required political will of the government in power. This is because, without such needed assurances, such Police officers would merely endanger their jobs and or lives, because it is often difficult to know the support base of such cultists.
One could be arrested one day, only to get an ‘order from above’ to release such ‘innocent citizen’ only for such suspect to mock the Police men and loudly celebrate his freedom.
For such reasons, even some policemen, it was once alleged, also ‘blend’ a term commonly used to mean ‘initiation’ to enjoy the protection of a powerful cult.
Curiously, many citizens believe that the strength of the Police can only be noticed, when there is a police casualty in cross-fire. Police search, in such instances, is often very thorough, decisive and committed. At such times, the consideration of possible assailant’s powerful backers and a political will to back-up their reaction to their own dead ones, do not count. It is indeed in such an instance when it is best to find the best in policemen.
Aside from that, even the Police is often helpless. That is why the resolve of Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Ezenwo Wike to partner the State Police Command in taking the anti-crime war to the cult groups is most noteworthy.
After the initial raid of cult havens in Obio/Akpor Local government Area, Governor Wike’s own LGA, where buildings of cult-gangs and kidnappers were demolished and land, recovered for public use, the Governor’s battle continued at the weekend, with a raid of similar cult havens at Eagle Island, in Port Harcourt City.
Joined by the new State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Foluso Adebanjo, Governor Wike personally supervised the demolition of two alleged deadly cultists’ camps, one of them located behind the Redeemed Christian Church of God and the other one simply called Andoni Camp.
Like that in Obio/Akpor, Governor Wike announced that a Police Station will be built at the camp behind the Church while a community hospital will replace the Andoni Camp. Addressing the security afterwards, Wike assured that the demolition of cultists’ hide-outs will continue until innocent citizens know peace and sleep with both eyes closed.
The security action is coming after Governor Wike had appealed to the youth involved in crime, to denounce their trade, embrace peace and be granted amnesty. Governor Wike assured that such repentant cultists and criminals would be re-integrated into the civil society through programmes that would reform and make them better and dependable citizens.
It is not known, how many such persons heeded the governor’s call and hand of friendship. What is known is that the level of cult activities could no longer be treated with levity.
At these times of economic downturn; when, states are doing everything humanly possible to attract direct foreign investments, the fortunes of the state cannot be left at the mercy of cultists, whose orgy of violence naturally creates insecurity that could scare away such foreigners and local investors alike.
Rivers is second only to Lagos in internally generated revenue. That underscores the relative peace enjoyed by companies who live and do business in the state. That success cannot be sacrificed for cult-induced violence that daily put Rivers on the front pages of newspapers as insecure.
The joint Government/Police action is also to make a point to trouble-makers that they are not welcome at the forthcoming rerun elections planned for the state. They are only welcome as civil citizens and voters, not as hired thugs and or weapon wielding alternate security to politicians.
So far, the public seems convinced that the war against crime and criminals enjoys the required political will, with the direct involvement and participation of the State Governor in all the raids on cultists’ hide-outs and subsequent demolition. Also welcome, are the choices of public projects already earmarked to replace the demolished property. Institutions like community hospitals and police stations would without doubt help meet the health needs of the people and also guarantee law and order in the affected communities.
My agony is that it is still unclear if there would not be ‘order-from-above’ to immediately release suspected cultists in Police custody, in a clime where, bail of a murder accused is made an issue before a higher court, obviously for political reasons. Methinks more issues than necessary are being politicised these days and that should be checked, if we are not to record more innocent deaths in cross-fire, like the fate that befell, The Tide’s driver, on New Year eve.
Soye Wilson Jamabo