Checking Insecurity: The PHALGA Example

The Rivers State Gov
ernor, Chief Nyesom Wike upon assumption of office on May 29, 2015, inherited a state that was bedeviled by security challenges. The governor quickly swung into action and strategised on how to address this challenge.
The governor in concert with the House of Assembly strengthened the Rivers State Anti-Kidnapping and Anti-Cultism Law which  empowers the state to demolish houses built or acquired from the proceeds of crime and also confiscate resources earned through crime by criminals. To encourage security agents to make sacrifices for the people, Wike outlined some incentives for those who suffer while fighting crime.
The state government has taken practical steps to ensure that the state enjoys relative peace for economic activities to thrive. One of such practical efforts was the stakeholders’ meeting held in Omoku to address security concerns in the Orashi region. The security initiatives of the governor and his commitment towards funding security programmes have been appreciated and commended by security chiefs.
For instance, the governor recently donated 66 security vans fitted with communication gadgets to security agencies in the state. He also liaised with the 23 local government caretaker committee chairmen to donate another 46 vans fitted with communication gadgets to security agencies.
Only penultimate Monday, the governor donated another fleet of 20 patrol vehicles, special dedicated telephone lines and handsets, bullet proof vests and helmets in a renewed effort to aid security operations in fight against violence and criminality in the state.
The government’s financial support and relevant logistics to security agencies has indeed strengthened the State Security Council in its fight against crime.
In line with Governor,  Wike’s commitment towards making Rivers State safe for both living and business, all the 23 local government areas in the state have keyed into Governor Wike’s vision of ridding the state of crime.
Recently, a one-day Town Hall Meeting was organised by the Mayor of Port Harcourt, Sir Soni Samuel Ejekwu at the council’s Main Hall, Moscow Road, Port Harcourt, to address the state of security in the local government area.
Ejekwu, while addressing the people said, “Following the increasing spate of heinous murders in several of our neighbouring local government areas, (LGAs) in our beloved state which have been associated with cult activities, I and members of my committee have decided not to wait until it manifests itself in our own LGA.
“Our council appreciates that there exists a nexus between poverty and criminality in general terms. But we are also cognisant of the fact that the poorest societies in the world are not necessarily the ones with the highest crime rates.
The council boss stressed that most of those involved in these crimes are not the poorest saying, “AK47s and other dangerous weapons that they use for their illicit trade cost a lot of money. And many of the youngmen involved in these criminal acts are not ready to accept an 8am to 5pm jobs to earn salaries between N40,000 and N100,000 per month.
“We in Port Harcourt have a major responsibility to bring these evil acts down to their barest minimum in our LGA considering the fact that we are the hosts to the Government of Rivers State.”
Sir Ejekwu urged community leaders, chiefs, and all stakeholders concerned to begin to take responsibilities for any crime that occurs around them, noting that, “we are not called leaders for nothing as title carries with it a lot of responsibilities even as we bask in the honour of recognition and adulation by large society.”
He called on all who live, work and do business in the state capital to give useful information that would help in curbing crimes and criminality to the appropriate quarters, while assuring that their identities would never be compromised.
His words: “You must organise the people around you and those you lead, to be on the lookout for sights and sounds of criminals and to promptly alert the appropriate authorities, so that lives and properties could be saved. This is the only way we can restore our Garden City to its former glory and bring back investors to the second most important manufacturing city in Nigeria.”
In his speech, the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Patrick Ogowe said the police were ready to provide security, but cannot do it alone without partnering with communities because according to him, everybody is a stakeholder in the business of security.
Ogowe appealed to Port Harcourt landlords to always demand the nature of work their tenants are involved, while also reporting suspicious moves among their tenants to the police.
He further stressed that he would encourage the Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) to partner with stakeholders in communities to form vigilante groups as synergising with them would avail them any vital information that would be useful for them to curb crimes and criminality in the city and state at large.
He urged leaders of the various communities to take proactive measures such as establishing vigilant groups and putting gates in their community entrances and outlets, to enable the vigilante groups monitor movements and alert the police, through the hotlines, of any signs of crimes and criminality in their communities.
In his speech, the PHALGA Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Honourable Ikechi Chindah, regretted the state of insecurity in Port Harcourt, which he said, was once a beehive of peace enthusiasm, excitement, and fun.
He, however, commended Governor Wike for declaring a total war on criminals, noting that if these criminals continue to make Port Harcourt unrest for everyone, there is no way business would thrive.
Ikechi, who was represented by Barrister Godson Dike appealed to the state government to do all within its power to engage these youths and save them from criminality, adding that chiefs and community leaders have prominent roles to play by not collaborating with criminals.
His words: “You owe these criminals a duty to make them responsible, because if you fail and collaborate with them, they will be in the hideouts and you will lose your life for their sakes”.
In his speech, the Director, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr. Oliver Wolubom, thanked the Mayor of Port Harcourt for organising the town hall meeting, but alleged that the police, community leaders, chiefs, families, friends and community members know the criminals in their various communities.
He urged the government and the citizenry to be prepared to fight the menace of cultism, kidnapping, gruesome murders, armed robberies, among others in the state.
At the end of the meeting, a communiqué was issued, and the assembly adopted the following:
That the assembly reflected on the general security situation in Rivers State, particularly the alarming state of armed robbery, kidnapping and gruesome cult-related murders, and condemned the situation in its entirety.
The assembly agreed that as leaders and major stakeholders in our individual and collective selves, and indeed all residents of Port Harcourt City Local Government Area have vital roles to play in curbing the situation in our respective communities.
The assembly also commended the efforts of Governor Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, for his untiring commitment to check the growing insecurity in the state.
Finally, the assembly called for a replication of the security town hall meetings in various localities and communities in the state.

Susan Serekara-Nwikhana