‘We’ve Succeeded in Reducing Crime Rate In Rivers’

Sincerely speaking, this thing is prevalent all over the country. What have we been able to do about it? We have been able to have discussion with student bodies, advising them again and again to stop from these activities of defrauding members of the public and especially stealing from the international community. We have been able to let them know the implications of this for the country, damaging the reputation of the country. A lot of countries do not want Nigerians to come because we have been associated with fraud of various kinds.
We equally want to talk about what is going on around our office particularly the Diobu area of Port Harcourt. We have cases of cult clashes and that is very close to a very major station, Mile 1 Police Station. We are equally affected not by the cult related alone but by the act of robbery that happens around our office. Many of our staff have been robbed at the close of work. We want to know what the Police are doing to reduce this criminal activity to the barest minimum if not to totally stop the crime around that Diobu axis of Port Harcourt?
CP: Sincerely, if I tell you that I’m not aware of this issue I will be lying to you. We get cases of cult clashes in that area and time and time again we have been able to arrest a lot of them and ensure that we charge them to court.  I want you to know that we are not the cause of these cult activities.
The issue of cultism is becoming endemic. Hardly can you see people moving around there, even walking there without belonging to a particular cult or the other. Day in, day out, new kinds of cult are coming up, and the police don’t have any choice than to continue to raid them. We have been raiding those areas, and recently we have been able to recover firearms. We recovered four AK-47 riffles during one of our raids.
We recovered two pistols with AK-47 ammunition close to 200 during one of our raids. There is no time we go there without recording success, without recovering one arms or the other, locally made pistols in those areas. Almost all those areas are infested with cultists or various groups.
So, the solution is to keep it minimal and what do we do about it is to continue to raid and we will continue to do that until we are able to dislodge them finally from that area.
What kind of assistance are we going to get from the Police in that dimension? We are very particular about security around our office (The Tide) in Diobu. What assurance are we getting from you concerning our office, that henceforth, our staff can go home freely and safely when they close from work no matter how late without robbery incident?
CP: First and foremost, we will tell them to be security conscious, for them to have it in their minds that they are walking through an area that is dangerous. Information is vital to them.They should open their eyes, open their ears, they should know when a clash is going on, they should look forward and see it on time for them to be able to take necessary actions.
Carrying their phones, exposing their expensive phones on the street all over the world is condemned. Keep your phones, don’t appear expensive to these hoodlums, they look at you, size you up before they attack you.
Now, on the part of the Police, we will continue to patrol these areas. Our men can come and identify your area. Like we have been able to do, we identify a lot of stakeholders. Police officers have been advised to come down from their vehicles and do foot patrol. When they are doing that, these hoodlums are seeing them and at that particular time we have been able to curtail crimes because they know the Policemen are moving around.
We will take care of your area. We have noted your area and most importantly, we will tell the DPO to put special interest in this area.
What is the crime rate in Rivers State when you assumed office and now if you are to access it?
CP: I will be able to tell you that we have been able to bring it down to 50 percent.
Finally Sir, we want to believe that your familiarity with the Rivers terrain as DPO in several stations and now as CP, has helped in the success recorded so far. If by tomorrow you are posted out of Rivers State, what will you remember Rivers State for?
CP: I will remember Rivers State. I know Rivers State as a peculiar State, one of the most important states which has a lot to do with the economy of this country. I will remember Rivers people for being wonderful set of Nigerians, friendly and ever ready to assist. I will remember members of the State for giving me all the cooperation I need to do my job as a police officer.
I will want you to know that during my short stay (in Rivers State), I have been able to receive more awards. I got award as the Best CP of the Year just within a short stay. That was possible with the assistance and cooperation of the people of Rivers State.
If I have to come back to work in Rivers again, if it is ever possible, I will not hesitate to come and work in this State. It has been a wonderful place, the people know their rights, they fight for their rights and they assist security operatives.

Cont’d from page 28