Community policing is working in Okrika local government area of Rivers State as against the insinuation in certain quarters that the country is not yet ripe for such. GODWIN EGBA reports.
John Dunning, a crime reporter said, “There is overwhelming evidence that humans are the most dangerous life form ever to appear on this planet and that the only predator that has ever succeeded in reducing their numbers is human himself”. This point to the fact that, since the creation of the universe, man remains the biggest and leading threat to himself and fellow man.To that extent, insecurity is not peculiar to Rivers state alone, but people that live in that part of the country had always raised concern over their safety. Indeed, like other parts of Nigeria, people living in some parts of the state live in fear over palpable insecurity within and outside their immediate environments. This is because a lot of criminal elements seemed to have taken over some of the local government areas.
It is either the incidences of dastard cult killings and kidnappings in communities or other brazen, bandit-related crimes. To that extent, records of criminalities are on the increase in some parts of the the state in recent times such as Ikwerre, Eleme and Ogoni where hundreds of human lives have been wasted.In most of these communities where the tide of crime is high, it is also on record that the orgy of blood-letting is also high. Here, these criminals seem to be winning in their dare-devil operations against all confrontations and counter duel from security operations. It is bold to say here that security apparatuses in the state may have their limitations due to lack of adequate operational logistics and near-zero level of sophisticated arms and ammunition compared to the fire-brand ones at the disposal of some of the criminals.
Unfortunately, it could be observed that some security personnel especially the police are said to be officers devoid of confidence to face the death threat or challenges they face with criminals while in operation or in their respective hide-outs.
Credit goes to state gov’t
That notwithstanding, by giving kudos to whom it’s due, commendation goes to the state governor, Chief Nyesom Wike and the state police command (past and present) as well as other security agencies for their relentless efforts at combating the menace of criminality across the state despite all odds. Governor Wike and his administration, no doubt, may be battling with human sabotage against his security efforts, no wonder there appears to be no end in sight despite huge commitment.For instance, in his dogged determination not to distance his administration from the people who are being confronted with insecurity on a daily basis, the governor has put all community chiefs, leaders and local government executive chairmen on their toes by challenging them to rise up to the security challenges alongside security apparatus in their domains or get burnt. Blueprint investigation revealed that the Okrika local government area, for example, has been adjudged the most peaceful council area out of 23 that make up the state. Few might believe this, but stakeholders within the community attested that the resident police divisional headquarters in Okrika maintains a common bond with community chiefs, youth leaders in order to ensure that the entire Okrika land has no congenial space for criminal elements.
Divisional command too
The police division is headed by a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in the rank of a police superintendent, Manasis Jesse, who assumed duty in March 2017. A cross-section of Okrika residents who spoke with Blueprint admitted that before the arrival of SP Jesse, there had been some cases of security breaches even to some situations where police could not penetrate some habitable terrains to effect arrest or investigation.The chairman of Okrika Divisional Council of Chiefs, Chief Sunday K. Amiesumak Kalawudo (JP), the Central Community Development Committee (CDC) chairman, Honourable Temaso Sekubo and Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) chairman, Sir Alen Amakiri, who appraised the DPO maintained that Okrika stands out in security management due to the community policing model established by the Force Headquarters. The three chairmen attested that since Jesse assumed duty in the division, Okrika people now sleep with their two eyes closed even though there is little in human history that is not connected with crime. They stressed that, “In recent times, some local government areas in the state have continued to experience high level of kidnapping, cult killing and other crime-related cases, but we Okrika opinion leaders embraced bond and synergy with the police division to expose any identified criminal element in any part of our community which is why we remain the most peaceful in Rivers state today.”Authoritative sources further revealed that the police division works with Okrika leaders who have the interest of their people at heart and that the DPO uses local knowledge to access the people and places to know who is an influential leader or not and also know the weakness of the non-leaders, a development which now enables the police to penetrate all nooks and crannies for easy identification of bad elements.Our source further revealed that no criminal goes scot-free if apprehended irrespective of his or her connection, affiliation to a ruling class in the community, noting that the DPO treats everybody as equal before the law.The cop who is a United Nations trained community policing expert is said to have taken the division out of the psycho of collecting money as condition for bail with a warning that if any officer is caught, such would faces the full wrath of the standing order.Blueprint source specifically identified the royal father of Okrika-Kochiri community, King Ateke Tom as the soul brain behind the DPO’s success story in maintaining a near-zero level security of life and property in the area, pointing out that the king who is also a recipient of government amnesty on security initiative stands out as a number one and chief security leader in the entire Okrika community who does not hide or shield any criminal reported to him as he makes sure that such is routed out and handed over to the police.
On his assumption, the DPO saw to the construction of a 250 sitting capacity building named after a one-time police commissioner in the state, CP Zaki M. Ahmed. The facility comprises squash hall, restaurant, PCRC office, inconvenience, sport complex and officers mess.He also built a flat of 4 single self-contain bedrooms; a recreation facility for officers on transfer to the division; upgraded the station to an international standard with CCTV, electronic monitoring gadgets that pick every human activities within and outside the station complex.In May, 2019 President Muhammadu Buhari directed the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Muhammadu Adamu to immediately implement community policing strategy across the country to enable traditional rulers maintain effective cultural and social control over their subjects. Adamu had also explained that the community policing model envisaged for the country would involve the establishment and utilisation of special constables as provided for in Section 50 (1) of the Police Act cap P19 LFN 2004.
