The Rivers State Commissioner for Information has described the ongoing crisis in the state as a criminal activity, insisting that ‘it is not political’.
Mr Austin Tam George was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday.
The Commissioner said: “I wouldn’t characterise the crisis as political in nature, we consider them as Criminal activities.
“We cannot draw conclusions now because obviously, investigations are still on.
“We got a report about the recent killing and the government has condemned those killings.
“The Governor directed security forces to move into the area and tried to make sure they bring the situation under control”.
Mr George admitted that the state was going through a difficult situation saying that it is not unique to Rivers State, but other parts of the country – Oyo, Ogun and Lagos States.
“What we are doing is to constantly work with the security forces, stakeholders, youth groups, community leaders and traditional authorities to make sure that the perpetrators of these crimes are apprehended and brought to face justice.
“In Rivers State, the Governor has done very well in terms of giving tremendous support to security forces. He was the first, in this political dispensation, to give over 60 security fitted vehicles to the police,” the Commissioner said.
Talking about what the government had done in Onelga, one of the communities that had witnessed violence recently, the Commissioner said that “the Governor held a security summit that brought all stakeholders together to discuss a way forward – whatever the grievances might be, whether the activities involved cult members or political disagreement”.
At least six persons were killed in Rivers State when Omoku community in Onelga, came under heavy gunfire late on Friday, February 12, till the early hours of Saturday, February 13.
Police said it was a cult battle for supremacy.
The attack occurred less than 48 hours after a former lawmaker, who represented ‘Onelga Constituency One’ in the Rivers State House of Assembly between 1999 and 2003, was killed by yet to be identified gunmen in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State.
Security Architecture
Mr George said no arrest has been made, noting that he understands that the Police Commissioner arrived in the state on Sunday night. He, however, reiterated that investigations were actively on in the area.
“We’ve had so many deployment and redeployment of Police Commissioners.
“But what seems to be logical is that, when we have some longevity in terms of how long a Police Commissioner remains in office within a state, he gets to know the security architecture, he gets to know the topography of the area, he gets to form alliances with stakeholders in the state, he gets to meet the communities and get them involved in the security architecture he had built. But it takes time for all of these to mature and take place.”
He likened the group to cultists because they seem to have a common identity.
“They seem to be fighting for tough control – they want to control their own territories.
“The nature of these activities made it a little bit difficult in Rivers State because of the difficult terrain and because sometimes, we have not had the constituency that you would expect in terms of security personnel in the state,” he added.
