PREAMBLE

Today, Rivers State in Nigeria is termed as the ‘Rivers of blood’. To some of us who share a bond with this State, it pains us so much when such description is used for our dear State. Before divulging into the main aim of this treatise and for avoidance of doubt and for clarity, Rivers State is the hub of the oil industry in Nigeria and very rich in hydrocarbons, from which the nation draws its major revenue. The strategic importance of Rivers State in the socio-economic and political future of Nigeria cannot, therefore, be over-emphasised. A recent investigation by the Economic Confidential listed Rivers State among four rich states in Nigeria, including Lagos, Delta, Ogun and Edo.

The fact remains that Rivers State has over the years evolved as the oil and gas nerve-centre of Nigeria. It has a growing population of about 5.1 million (the sixth most populous state in the country) and an impressive GDP of 21.07 billion USD – which is bigger than that of most African countries, such as Botswana, Rwanda, Nambia, Lesotho, etc. The enviable economic and socio-political scorecard of Rivers State has made it a war theatre, occasioned by some unscrupulous politicians that use the youths to cause deaths, mayhem among the citizenry of the state. Sadly, today, the state is confronted with security challenges, especially illegal bunkering, piracy, cultism, oil pipes destruction, kidnapping, armed robbery, political killings, etc.

This article, therefore, is influenced by the rise of kidnapping, heinous murders, criminal activities and other insecurity challenges in Rivers State. And, as a patriotic Nigerian, I intend to examine the causes of the recent rise in insecurity in the state and proffer suggestions on the way forward. This becomes imperative to avoid falling into the trap of late Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia’s famous words: “Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most that has made it possible for evil to triumph.”

Genesis of current insecurity in Rivers State

The current state of insecurity in Rivers can be anchored and situated on two principal developments in the politics of the state: the gubernatorial ambition of Chief Nyesom Wike; and the political battle between Dr Goodluck Jonathan, erstwhile President of Nigeria and former Governor of Rivers State and incumbent Minister of Transportation, Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi..

Wike’s ambition and creation of the ‘Rivers of blood’

Chief Wike’s ambition to succeed Amaechi as the governor of Rivers State may be shocking to most political watchers. It started from his days as chief of staff to the then Governor Amaechi. The fact remains that while Amaechi was busy providing dividends of democracy to the people, Wike, on the other hand, was busy undermining Amaechi and using all the connections and goodwill of the Rivers State Government not only to station his men in strategic positions in government, but to empower most of them financially through award of contracts, initiation and other means. He tested the ground of his ambition when he was appointed as the director- general for the re-election of Amaechi as governor of Rivers State in 2011. A position he ensured that only his men were appointed to strategic fields to serve as key mobilisers at the grassroots level. By the time he was appointed minister of state in the Ministry of Education, based on the recommendation of Amaechi to Dr Jonathan, Wike went further with his gubernatorial ambition plot by forming the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI), a political pressure group he used to deceive the public, that it was formed to assist in the re-election of then President Jonathan; but, in fact, the outfit was formed to pursue his gubernatorial ambition. He used the outfit to formally recruit his foot soldiers for the battle ahead. Under our nose, this body was heavily financed and motivated, and its presence was established in all the constituencies of Rivers State.

It was this group that he used to dislodge over 11 key Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members that wanted to contest the 2015 governorship election under the PDP platform. Those that wanted to play games were properly beaten up and molested at the party’s national secretariat at Abuja. Before this time, Wike, based on political exigency, tactfully suppressed his gubernatorial ambition from public view. Instead, he offered himself as a tool to spearhead the political battle between Jonathan and Amaechi. He gave everything within him to execute this, with the PDP ticket as a target.

How Jonathan and Wike created the ‘Rivers of blood’

Genesis of the creation of ‘Rivers State of blood’ by Jonathan and Wike stemmed from claims and rumour developed and spread around by members of their camp to win the hearts of Rivers people to their devious plot. That is, that the then Governor Amaechi will contest the office of the president or vice president with a candidate from the northern part of the country come 2015, thereby truncating the second-term ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan who is from the same geo-political zone (South-south). This strategy sold like wide fire in the region. And, based on this evil assumption, Jonathan, using Wike as a tool, resolved to create the type of Rivers State we now have, where lives make no meaning.

Despite Amaechi’s great show of love to former President Jonathan, and in order to humiliate and annihilate him politically, the following steps were adopted. A few instances may suffice: A private jet of the Rivers State Government was grounded for no just cause; the PDP structure in Rivers State was taken away from Amaechi; his election as Chairman of Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF), which was duly certified and widely acknowledged, was annulled by President Jonathan and his cohorts; he also supported the destruction of the once vibrant NGF by supporting 16 governors against 19. Besides, on May 27, 2013 Amaechi was suspended from the PDP, a party he so much loved and spent so much to build. They followed this up with his expulsion. Indeed, if not for divine providence, he would have been illegally impeached by five legislators (Chinda, Kelechi Godspower Nwogu (Omuma), Evans Bapakaye Bipi (Ogu/Bolo), Martins Amaewhule (Obio/Akpor I) and Victor Ihunwo (Port Harcourt III) who were loyal to the then Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, in a House of 32 members. Jonathan withdrew the security details attached to Amaechi, As if these were not enough, the president used state power to prevent Amaechi, then a sitting governor, from reaching Ekiti, in the South-western part of the country, to support the re-election of Dr Kayode Fayemi, because they were in the opposition then. Above all, a Police Commissioner by name Mr Joseph Mbu was posted to Rivers State to haunt, harass, torement, insult and abuse Amaechi publicly.

Apart from all the listed humiliating attacks against Amaechi, some oil wells formerly Rivers State were re-allocated to neighbouring sister-states – Baylesa and Akwa Ibom – thereby denying the state billions of naira. And to demonstrate his hatred for Rivers State, because of Amaechi, Jonathan took the proposed biggest dockyard in Africa meant for Bonny in Rivers State to Lagos State. When he lost the election, he revoked the project that was already 40 percent done. He equally stopped the implementation of the cleaning up of Ogoni land, renovation of the Port Harcourt International Airport as well as repair of major federal roads in the state.

Notable reactions to the siege

Prof Tam David-West, an illustrious son of Rivers State and a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, said: ‘Amaechi is an innocent man and his travails illustrate the Nigerian paradox, where excellence is relegated to the background and mediocrity is elevated. I’m particularly worried about the trend, not only because I am a Rivers State elder, not only because I am a strong supporter of Amaechi without any regret, I am also worried as a Nigerian; because what is happening to Amaechi underscores a terrible Nigerian paradox: which I call the paradox of excellence. We support him because those of us who grew up in Port Harcourt as a famous Garden City knew how the city changed to a rotten city. And Amaechi, who is also a Port Harcourt boy, returned the city back to its glorious garden city status. Any person that does not realise this is not only blind, but terrible.’

This great sage reminded Amaechi’s opponents that he who laughs last, laughs best. He added, with emphasis, that the governor would laugh last, because his first name, Chibuike, means ‘God is strength.’ Though, David-West’s words came to pass as Amaechi ought to be laughing after sending Jonathan's evil PDP packing from the centre, but he is a very sad man as Wike has turned his beloved Rivers State to a slaughter house.

Nobel laureate Prof Wole Soyinka, while lending his voice on the matter, blamed President Goodluck Jonathan for the political crisis then rocking Rivers State. He warned that Nigeria was fast sliding towards monarchism: the system of government where too much power is vested in one person.

Human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), said it was regrettable that exactly 10 years after a group of thugs attempted to abduct a sitting governor in Anambra State, another set of thugs attempted to undermine democratic institutions in Rivers State. Falana said the silence of President Jonathan on the unfortunate development in Rivers State was tantamount to an endorsement of the political crisis. ‘We have been through this route before. We must tell them that we are not a conquered people. The case of Rivers is more absurd, more odious, where five members of the assembly, aided by the state, invaded the assembly chambers and chased away their colleagues.’

Towards creating the ‘Rivers of blood’

1. Recruitment of militants

Apart from creating the deadly and infamous GDI, Wike, while serving as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria paid visits to some notable former war lords from the Niger Delta, soliciting their support for his gubernatorial ambition. In this regard, it was reported that he donated his six months’ salary to Tompolo Foundation. Stanley Azuakola of TheScoop, in his report entitled, Nyesom Wike donates 6 months’ salary to ex-militant Tompolo Foundation stated: “There are reports that the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, who is currently involved in a bitter struggle with the current Rivers governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has donated his salary for the next six months, which amounts to about N11.742 million, to the Chief Tompolo Foundation.”Link:http://www.thescoopng.com/report-nyesom-wike-donates-6-months-salary-to-ex-militant-tompolo-foundation/

2. Implication of the donation

An online media platform, Newsdiaryonline, which also reported the donation and its purpose said: ‘The donation by the Minister is seen as part of covert moves to consolidate plans to work with Mr Tompolo to disrupt the peace in his home state, Rivers State. This is seen as part of the plot to oust the incumbent Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who is seen to have parted ways with President Goodluck Jonathan. Reports indicate that Mr Wike has boasted that he will deploy his wide contacts within the judiciary to recruit everyone necessary to ensure he has his way in Rivers State. No one has yet made any response on behalf of Rivers State Government to this revelation. However, reliable sources reveal that residents of the state have sighted a gradual resurgence of ex-militant groups that had hitherto taken flight from the state due to the tough stance of the Amaechi-led administration on militant activities. Most of these militants had fled the state for more accommodating havens like Bayelsa and Akwa-Ibom states, and Abuja in the face of the onslaught on criminal activities by the Rivers State Government. With the frosty relationship between the governor and Presidency, and with the controversial complacent role of the State Commissioner of Police, these ex-militants are now finding their ways back to the state.

‘Some residents who prefer to remain anonymous have expressed concern that the sudden return of these ex-militants to the state hold very ominous signs for the state, and that their intentions cannot be good.’ This fear is now loudly very imminent in Rivers State today, as residents now sleep with two eyes wide open.

In another development, according to TheScoop publication of January 20, 2014 titled Amaechi has not started crying yet – boasts Nyesom Wike; Segun Odeleye reported that Wike was quoted as saying: ‘We are free of any arrest; no police will arrest any member of GDI or interrupt their activities or gathering in this state. Don’t forget, it is Amaechi who was ordering police to arrest GDI members anywhere they are gathering. Now he is the one crying over arrest and disruption of APC gathering in the state. He has not started crying: the police will continue to chase them until they learn how to follow the due process before hosting any meeting or rally. Rivers State is for PDP. The best thing for Governor Ameachi is to resign and have peace, because as long he remains the governor, he will never have peace.’ Link: http://www.thescoopng.com/amaechi-has-not-started-crying-yet-boasts-nyesom-wike/

Comments
A versatile public commentator, Uche Igwe, a doctoral research fellow at Sussex Centre for the Study of Corruption, University of Sussex, titled “Of Nyesom Wike And President Jonathan’s Conflict Entrepreneurs”, described Wike as ‘a tough and undiplomatic man with a thug-minded determination and a deep-pocket that thrives in a policy of vindictiveness.’Known as Eze Gburugburu by his admirers, the former Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government is acclaimed to be a brutal schemer who maximised his position as chief of staff in Brick House to stockpile enormous financial resources for himself. The bulkily framed politician is also someone who understands and believes in the power of money and readily deploys it as a political tool to achieve helpful and, most times, unhelpful political ends. Another former loyalist described him as ‘a merciless politician with a limitless capacity for mischief.’

Sam Nda-Isaiah, a frontline APC Presidential candidate and Publisher of Leadership Newspaper, in his reaction to WIke and Jonathan’s absurdity in Rivers State in an article published by TheScoop of August 12, 2013 titled , “Why does the President enjoy the company of gangsters? stated: ‘The Minister of State for Education, Mr Nyesom Wike, who is at the centre of the crisis in Rivers State with the clear support of the President, Goodluck Jonathan, and the co-president, Patience Jonathan, now operates above the law in the state. To worsen the joke, he has even declared for the governorship of the state. It is very hard to believe that a serving minister would make that kind of statement and still be kept in the cabinet by the President. But that has been our lot since Jonathan became President.’ Link: http://www.thescoopng.com/sam-nda-isaiah-why-does-the-president-enjoy-the-company-of-gangsters/

Given the forgoing, why should blood not flow in Rivers?

Before and during the March/April 2015 General Elections in Rivers State, it was reported that about 100 members of All Progressives Congress (APC) were slaughtered, with their local secretariats at Andoni and Okirika bombed. The live telecast by Channels TV during the shootings on the APC Rally at Okirika should be very visible on the minds of Nigerians.

During the 2016 rerun elections of April 2016, the APC’s National Working Committee, in a press statement, noted: “APC members in Rivers State are fast becoming [an] endangered species.” That was after scores of members were killed in recent weeks. The committee released a list of 32 party members it claimed had been killed by a variety of methods: “several were beheaded, others clubbed to death and one man burned alive.”

Till date, under the watch of Governor Wike, about 500 Rivers State citizens have been killed.

Wike’s ‘Rivers of blood’

Kennedy Friday, a social commentator, in a recent presentation painted the present situation in Rivers State thus: “They were killed and beheaded in Ula-Upata community in Ahoada East Local Government Area. After that, their corpses were set ablaze! In this 21st century, this bestiality happens every day in parts of Rivers State, almost unchallenged. Insecurity is at its most rampaging level. Oh God, what is happening to Rivers State? We have this very dire challenge and people look the other way and pretend that all is well. This barbarity happens every day in one part of the state or the other. When will these killings stop?”

In the words of Ibrahim Modibbo, a social commentator based in Abuja: “Not even under the evil and satanic regimes of Mobutu Sese Seko, Emperor Fidel Bokassa or legendary Idi Amin of Uganda did we see such a fascist regime that displays optimum barbarism and primitive parochialism as in Rivers. The state is currently buckling under the full weight of a heartlessly ravenous political brigand, where life has lost its meaning and value. A cabal that swims in obscene opulence has made political power to be so critical to its survival that any opposition that stands on its way, even if it’s a fly, must be crushed with a sledge hammer. I am, therefore, not surprised that opponents are now hunted like a game: with many beheaded, clubbed to death or buried alive like chickens.”

Jimitota Onoyume, Vanguard Newspaper Correspondent, reported on May 17, 2016, how 5 cops, 6 civilians were butchered in Rivers. According to him, “Mortal fear has seized the people of Rivers State since last week when armed marauders murdered five police officers, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Muhammadu Halidu, and six civilians at Okobe in Ahoada West Local Government Area. The rampaging gunmen laid ambush for the police officers, attached to the 30 Mobile Police Force, code-named 30 MPF, Bayelsa State, on their way back from a national assignment in Yobe State and stole their rifles, after snuffing the life out of them.”

Reacting to the ugly scenario, Senator Magnus Abe stated: “But the point I want to make is that there are reasons here in Rivers State why we should not and cannot celebrate democracy day. Just yesterday, somewhere in Ahoada, I hear over eight people were killed, including the oldest man in the village. As we speak now, in my own village, boys are going around with guns; nobody slept last night. I was told they even chased somebody to a church, and macheted him right there in a church, with people scampering for safety. As we talk now, in Luawii and Kapnyo, several people are dead, houses burnt... You know, all over... Yesterday, a friend of mine stopped at a fuel station at Rumoula to buy petrol, and while at the filling station, some people brought out guns and robbed everybody, right there in Rumuola. This is what is going on all over Rivers State.

“In such circumstances, do we really have much to celebrate? The first responsibility of government is the maintenance of law and order. If people are free and safe, they can look for water, they can look for light, they can look for food. But they cannot look for security if they're not safe. So, I think the governor should really do something to address the issue of security in this state. And until he does that, there is really nothing to celebrate in Rivers State.”

Now That Rivers is on fire, where are Dr Jonathan and Dame Patience?

After assisting Chief Nyesom Wike to create his ‘Rivers of blood’, both Dr Goodluck Jonathan and his beloved wife, Dame Patience Jonathan, are comfortably secured in a safe place outside the country, while our state and our people are now sleeping with two eyes widely open. “There is God o!”

The socio-economic impact of the insecurity challenges

Who else could explain the economic impact of the insecurity situation in Rivers State more than Hon Rotimi Amaechi, who threw light on this while speaking at the Annual Lagos Traffic Radio Lecture Series in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos. He accused the incumbent Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, of driving away investors from the state due to growing insecurity and crime, which had led to the plunging of the internally generated revenue (IGR), from N8 billion to N4 billion. His words: “Do you know that people are now migrating away from Port Harcourt? When I was the governor of Rivers State, nothing like that happened. The crime rate in the state has now increased and the IGR dropped. As the governor, the IGR of the state was N8 billion. And that was why I have often advised Nigerian public office holders not to play with figures. Due to the crime rate in the state, people have started migrating away from the state and the IGR has dropped to N4 billion. The state governor (Wike) now moves like chairman of a council, asking traders and others if they had paid their taxes. But when I was the governor, I don’t engage in that.”

According to Amaechi, “Migration is either voluntary or involuntary. But in the case of Rivers State, it is involuntary. They are forced to relocate from the state. The man complained that I am corrupt. But I have asked him to go to court but until today, he is yet to bring evidence forward to buttress his claims.”

THE FAILURE OF WIKE AS A GOVERNOR AND THE SUGGESTED REMEDIES OUT OF HIS RIVERS OF BLOOD

According to Noam Chomsky, “The US International and Security Policy has as its primary goal the preservation of what we might call ‘the Fifth Freedom’ understood crudely but with a fair degree of accuracy as: the freedom to rob, to exploit and to dominate; to undertake any course of action to ensure that existing privilege is protected and advanced.”

To Dr Dakuku Adol Peterside the incumbent Director General of NIMASA in a paper he titled, “How to Tackle Insecurity in Nigeri”a, this great scholar postulated that: “Security, law and order are the major preoccupation of any government. Once a government gets this priority right, it has made the very first right step. Growing insecurity, on the reverse side, is the first sign of a failing state.” Hon Peterside’s view on security tallies with that of poet and political philosopher, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who said: “The three great ends which a statesman ought to propose to himself in the government of a nation are: Security to possessors, facility to acquirers, and hope to all.”

In another development, a renowned Author and politician Senator Magnus Abe stated and I quote, “the first responsibility of government is the maintenance of law and order. If people are free and safe they can look for water, they can look for light, they can look for food; but they cannot look for security if they're not safe. So I think the Rivers State governor should really do something to address the issue of security in this state. And until he does that, there is really nothing to celebrate in Rivers State."-

If we are to judge the administration of Chief Nyesom Wike for the past one year as the Governor of Rivers State and based on the postulations above Wike lacks the basic skill to govern a sophisticated State like Rivers State.

In this regard, a group known as Rivers Pathfinders have joined numerous other concerned groups to call on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare without delay a state of emergency in Rivers State or risk losing the State as one of the components of the Nigerian Nation. Speaking at a press interview in Port Harcourt over the weekend, the President of Rivers Pathfinders, Comrade Clement William Jack, expressed fear that unless the federal government of President Muhammadu Buhari intervenes urgently, what is known as Rivers State will be extinct and gone into oblivion given the level of insecurity in the State culminating in the daily killing of innocent citizens and the destruction of properties in several of the local government areas of the State.

“Just within a month alone, nine (9) persons were beheaded at Oduoha Emohua, 17 persons at Ogoni, 13 persons at Ahoada West, 6 persons at Abua, uncountable number of killings in Omoku. Last night (Friday 3rd June 2016), over 40 persons relaxing at the frontage or stores or drinking parlours were sent to untimely death at Aluu community next door to the University of Portharcourt. The killers of the unsuspecting innocent citizens were said to have started their rampage from Isiokpo, Omuagwa, Rumuekpe communities before arriving at Aluu,” The Spokesperson of the Rivers Pathfinders narrated in bewilderment.

Amaechi and his scientific panacea to Wike’s Rivers of Blood

Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi who once inherited this type of Rivers State from Sir Dr Peter Odili and Sir Celestine Omehia was able to restore Rivers State and made her one of the safest States in Nigeria during his tenure that in 2012 there was no single armed robbery in the State talkless of any form of criminality. According to Amaechi, “When we took over the reins of governance, we met a situation where people were being given cash, but we decided to take the extreme position of not giving money to people, but doing projects that would impact positively on the lives of the majority of our people.”

Expatiating on how Amaechi handled the security challenges of the state at this period, Dr Dakuku Peterside stated,: “When I had the privilege of serving in the government of Rivers State under the leadership of Governor Amaechi, I observed that he placed high premium on security, because he believed that security was the foundation upon which progress in every other facet of development depends. This is aside from government’s proactive disposition which drew substantially from intelligence gathering, surveillance and the fact that law enforcement agents could reasonably predict potential crime with near perfect accuracy.

“Another interesting aspect of the Rivers’ model is the deployment of technology. Without sounding immodest, I can confidently say that the state’s security network is driven by excellent modern technology. Rivers was the first state to acquire a mobile scanning van known as Back Scatter. Around Port Harcourt metropolis, there are Gantry scanners at strategic entry locations in Onne - Eleme Road, East-West Road, Choba Road, Oyigbo Road, Ikwerre Road, Aba Road and Mbiama Road, among others.”

Throwing more light on Peterside’s postulation, a security expert and CEO of MPD Security Systems, Engr David Meyer, noted: “The first step we took in Rivers State was to raise capacity among selected police personnel; over 200, through local and overseas training in Israel and other parts of the world on modern crime fighting techniques and intelligence gathering.” Working with modern gadgets and substantial logistics, including an Israeli-trained, concealed weapon-detecting dog. This crossbred police team had since been strategically placed at main outskirt check-posts witnessing mass movement in and out of Port Harcourt city. Others lead a number of metro patrol teams, responding to security emergencies around the town and environs. These are as far as the public can see.”

Beyond public view, as part of Rivers current long-term vision of security, Meyer pointed to underground application of ICT-aided security hardware and software, helping the police to sense and react to security situations with despatch. This network of technology, managed by experts from a hub which Meyer would not disclose its location for security reasons, employed the C4I urban surveillance cameras watching over the city, and active 24 hours of the day in Port Harcourt and environs.

The interactions between seen and unseen infrastructures, according to Meyer, accounted for the recent security operatives’ swift bursting of some of the failed organised crime operations, including an attempted raid of a bank in the Mile 4 area of the city last year. “These measures have been working well and, while the public may not know, it has led to several arrests; and we have gained convictions against suspects on account of the improved network,” he said.

Supporting the foregoing, Amaechi recalled: “We have done a lot about security. We are doing more. Before we came to office, kidnapping was a serious challenge. We have dealt with it substantially. We are finishing December 2012 without a single report of kidnapping or armed robbery. We have specially trained policemen handling security. Barring any unforeseen circumstance, any moment from now, the Rivers State Government’s security web would be two surveillance helicopters stronger, laying foundation for a standing air wing to give the state 24-hour security coverage.” He said the helicopters – costing $30 million (N4.5 billion) with surveillance cameras to fly all over the city of Port Harcourt and other parts of the state – would arrive at the end of December and commence operations in January 2013. Amaechi added that Rivers now has in place a technology reliable for tracking criminals and their hideouts. Sadly both former President Jonathan and Wike ensured that these helicopters never got to Port Harcourt but thanks to President Buhari who have authorized that these helicopters be released to the Rivers State Government few weeks on assumption of office.

Amaechi, who is a major proponent of state police, postulated: “If we have State Police, Rivers would be able to train its police the way it wants. It would not have suffered the loss of those 500 policemen it trained. Most states are spending a lot of money improving the police which are not under their control. States can use the same resources to fund their own police. Only those with something to hide are afraid of state police.”

If Wike is wise and interested to curb insecurity in Rivers State what stops him from humbly going to Amaechi for tutorial on how to govern a sophisticated state like Rivers State.

Conclusion

Wike's failure in governance makes the need for Dakuku Peterside not only imperative but needful as Rivers state people now know the difference between a God sent leader and what Wike represents.

Before this miracle happens, let us hope and pray that the new Rivers State Commissioner of Police (CP) Foluso Adebanjo will assist to stop this madness and needless killings in Rivers state. To Adebanjo, criminals must relocate from the state. He said cultists have gone mad and must be wiped out. Adebanjo, who resumed in the command few days ago, urged his men to take intelligence gathering very seriously. “There is no doubt there is daunting security challenges in the country, particularly in Rivers State. But, it is not insurmountable. Rivers State is great; therefore, it must be peaceful. We must fortify the state, especially Port Harcourt”.

•EZE CHUKWUEMEKA EZE is a Media Consultant based in Port Harcourt and could be reached either through ezemediaconcept2020@gmal.com or 0803819916

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