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We The People, (WTP), a non-governmental organization, has expressed concern over the rate
of reported extrajudicial killings in Rivers State. The group alleged that over 152 persons were killed between the months of April, May and June 2019 in the state.
The Executive Director of We the People, Ken Henshaw, in his address at a one day stakeholders town hall meeting on the ‘Rising killings in Rivers State’, held in Port Harcourt, noted that Rivers has its own share of the country’s growing insecurity problem, which seems to defy every effort at reducing it.
He noted that police has not done enough to decrease or end killings in the state, alleging that the country is under-policed. He disclosed that “26 people died in 16 incidents recorded in June, 80 people in 21 cases in May while 46 people died in 16 attacks in April”.
Henshaw said: “The Nigerian Police is structurally ill-equipped and perhaps even unwilling to deal with the rising atrocities in the state.
“Not only is the country under-policed, but we also note with alarm that even the insufficient policemen in the country have been privatised to the extent that private individuals and government officials appropriate them for individual use.
“We are concerned that the rise in atrocious killings is directly traceable to the actions and incentives which politicians in the state provide.”
He regretted that the state is getting used to the crime, adding that the act of granting repentant criminals amnesty without prosecuting them was wrong.
“For us, even more, important is the fact that our system has seemingly accepted the atrocious murder of citizens as ‘normal’. Thus, there is no accountability, no documentation and no investigation into deaths. This is not only morally wrong and barbaric, but it is also demeaning and a violation of Fundamental Rights,”
Marshall Israel, a federal Commissioner with Public Complaints Commission speaking at the meeting, said:” the issue of insecurity and killings has become a norm in the state”.
He noted that Rivers has been bedevilled by cult-related activities, stressing that unless drastic measures are taken by the three tiers of government, insecurity would be unabated in the state.
In his remark, Public Relations Officer of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, in Rivers, Emmanuel Ugwumgbaka, said the increase of the killings and criminality in the society as a result of complacency by parents and relatives.
He said the abuse of drugs by youths contributes to the spate of criminality in society.
“It is the direct outcome of killings witnessed in society because of the use of hard drug consumption. To reduce crime in the society, you (referring to government) must remove drugs and arms from people, who are not supposed to handle them”, Ugwumgbaka advised.
However, State Director of National Orientation Agency, Ayo Tamuno, said the agency has partnered with civil societies and other relevant agencies to re-orientate members of the public, especially in the communities, to discourage social vices and reduce incessant killings.
Tamuno noted that the informal youths in the society need adequate and constant orientation, adding that communities should take ownership of the security architecture, and advocated for community policing.
