Insecurity: RSG Deploys More Security Personnel To Ogoni Communities

The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has said that the State Security Council (SSC) has directed the deployment of more security personnel to troubled Ogoni communities with a view to restoring peace.
Speaking, last Saturday, when he led the State Security Service Commanders to Kono-Boue and Kereken-Boue towns in Khana Local Government Area, Wike said that the security agencies have been mobilised to go after the cultists operating in parts of Ogoniland.
The governor said: “We will do everything possible to make sure that those involved in these criminal cult activities don’t go free.
“You have to cooperate with us to get the killers. Those who have perpetrated these crimes are known to community members. No armed robber operates in a place without local support. Therefore, support us with credible information.
“I feel so sad that these cultists have killed our people and displaced some communities in the area. We have taken measures to restore peace”, he said.
He said that the State Security Council has adopted new strategies to build the security framework in communities troubled by cultists.
Wike said: “Tell your people to come back. I have come here with the security service commanders to reassure you that we are doing everything possible to restore peace.
“Over the last few days, we have deployed security personnel to the troubled areas. Beginning today, we are going to deploy more security personnel to different Ogoni communities to protect our people”.
Wike charged parents to monitor their children, advising that communities must take measures to discourage youths from becoming cultists.
The governor said that the state government would support displaced communities and families of victims of the cult-related attacks in Ogoniland.
He assured the leaders of the area that the Rivers State Government would complete the road abandoned by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
In his remarks, Chairman of Khana Local Government Area, Mr Lahteh Loolo explained that cultists have displaced some communities in the area, and commended the Rivers State governor for his sustained response which reduced the level of casualties suffered by the communities.
He said that with the new strategies introduced by the Rivers State governor, the security challenge facing the area would be resolved.
In his response, the Traditional Ruler of Kono Boue, Chief Ezekiel Manson, expressed happiness with the intervention of the Rivers State governor, saying that when the cultists attacked the community, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) and his personnel responded positively.
He claimed that there were no cultists among those who were killed and displaced in the community.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Government has debunked claims that it is not sensitive to the plight of Ogoni people, noting that some of the major infrastructural projects undertaken by the present administration are cited in the area.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Communications, Pastor Paulinus Nsirim, disclosed this, last Saturday, during a live radio programme monitored by The Tide in Port Harcourt.
Nsirim, who was reacting to insinuations by some Ogoni stakeholders that Governor Nyesom Wike was yet to visit the area despite the spate of violence that has led to loss of lives and destruction of some property in some communities there.
But the same day the permanent secretary responded to the criticism, the governor led top government and security officials to some communities in Ogoni to see things for themselves, and also interact with the people.
However, while insisting that security was the business of all, Nsirim stated that the support Governor Nyesom Wike has given to security agencies was unprecedented, stressing that the governor has shown leadership in steering the ship of state.
According to Nsirim, “We need to make this point very clear. The governor, as an individual, cannot fight insecurity. Security is a collective business. And he has shown leadership. He stands as one governor who has given the highest support to security agencies to fight insecurity in this country.
“A few weeks ago, ‘Operation Sting’ was launched, and if you were there, you will see the massive kind of resources government has put into that operation. It is a comprehensive change of the security architecture in this state.
“Now results are coming, and because of that, a few days ago, he had to give additional 40 patrol vans to the Nigeria Police Force. That is a governor that has political will to tackle insecurity. And the governor is doing what he is supposed to do.
“For people to say that the governor is not doing enough…… The governor is not the police, he is not the Department of State Services (DSS), he is not the Armed Forces, and he is not the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC).
“He (Wike) will put in the political machinery, the support of government at all times. And he has done that within the last four years, and he is still doing that. The governor is a lover of the Ogoni people, and he has demonstrated that in political appointments, and in development projects.
“One of the biggest road infrastructure that is going on in this state now is linking Ogoni communities. So many things are happening in Ogoni land. And the governor, as a patriot, will continue to carry the interest of Ogoni people along in the governance of this state,” Nsirim stated.
The permanent secretary expressed the need for all stakeholders to close ranks and ensure that bad elements within the society were identified and handed over to the appropriate authorities so that peace would reign.
“The truth of the matter is that security is our collective business. We need to work together as a people, and then, ensure that the bag eggs within our society are exposed and handed over to the security agencies,” he advised.