Bandits Take Over Rivers


By Soni Daniel and Ubokikwan Gabriel (Port Harcourt)

•Soldiers Move To Secure Govt House

•Governor Omehia Reads Riot Act

•Residents Call For State Of Emergency

Soldiers were on Wednesday deployed in Government House, Port Harcourt and other strategic institutions, after three days of cult-related violence that consumed lives and property.

Rival cult gangs have been killing innocent persons in their battle for the control of Rivers. Three were confirmed dead by the police on Monday.

The residents also awoke to fighting on Tuesday and Wednesday, which forced some to stay indoors.

Although soldiers had been working with anti-riot policemen at the Government House for some time, a new set was moved in on Wednesday to beef up security.

Other soldiers armed with lethal weapons were moved to major security outfits in the state.

They returned fire as killer squads fired shots around Mile One, Dioubu, Abonnema Wharf, and other parts of Port Harcourt.

Residents of Aba Road were terrified when fire exploded from a spot where hawkers of illegal fuel do business.

The fire, which started about 11 a.m., burnt with intensity trying to consume facilities belonging the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

The hawkers had attempted to pour petrol on police officers and set them on fire for daring to arrest them. Four were arrested.

Public Relations Officer of the 2nd Brigade, Major Sagir Musa, confirmed that soldiers have been deployed in Government House, even though there is nothing unusual about it.

"People should not panic as there is nothing to worry about. We are just responding to the dictates of the times", he said.

Two cult leaders in the state are ‘being wanted’ by the police for criminal offences, but they and their supporters move freely in and outside the state. They are involved in the kidnap of oil workers for ransom.

A statement Governor Celestine Omehia issued on Wednesday said: "It is now clear that what is happening in Rivers State is not freedom fighting. This is certainly not in the interest of our people and therefore not acceptable to the government.

"We have consulted with the relevant agencies of the Federal Government and have decided to handle this matter decisively. Rivers State Government wishes to call on parents and guardians in the state to restrain their sons, daughters and wards from engaging in acts of intimidation and violence against innocent citizens of the state.

"The government cannot, and will not, allow the current situation in which criminal elements roam the streets of Port Harcourt and other towns in Rivers State with impunity to continue. The government has a responsibility to protect citizens from acts of random violence such as witnessed in recent times.

"Henceforth, anyone who engages in indiscriminate use of firearms, kidnapping and cultism will have themselves to blame. Parents and guardians are hereby advised to caution their children and wards before they come to needless harm at the hands of law enforcement agents".

In any case, Port Harcourt residents have urged President Umaru Yar’Adua to declare a state of emergency in the city, as lives and property are no longer safe there, and in other parts of the state.

Nte Rawlings, a legal practitioner, lamented that "we don’t have a government in Rivers State. The present administration came in through fraudulent means; so what is happening is a bye product of a fraudulent government in power. I support the call for an immediate declaration of a state of emergency in the whole of Rivers State".

Ibanibo James, an eyewitness of the shootings in the past three days, said the state government has no moral ground to continue in office when those it claims voted for it are dropping dead day in day out.

A commercial bus driver, who said one of his passengers was killed by stray bullet last Monday, warned that he and his colleagues would soon go on strike if the killings continue. Their views represent the aggregate position of residents of the state who are apprehensive of the situation and are now living in morbid fear.

Outside Port Harcourt, stray bullets from the police or cult members have killed 15 people statewide from Monday through Wednesday.

The police use armoured vehicles to chase away the gangs wherever the sounds of shootings are heard.

On Tuesday, an Air Force plane flew around Port Harcourt to scare away cult members who had been shooting for several hours. But minutes later, the firing resumed with intensity in other parts of the city.

Yet, Police Public Relations Officer, Ireju Barasua, argued on Wednesday that the situation has not degenerated to the level of seeking a state of emergency. She quoted the Divisional Police Officer in Diobu as assuring that the police have brought the situation under relative control.

A member of the Rivers State Peace and Rehabilitation Committee, Ignatius Bara, said those calling for a state of emergency are "mean", because Omehia inherited a state infested by militants and illegal arms, and efforts to solve the problem should not be halted.

http://www.independentngonline.com/?c=128&a=32342