Rivers Communities Take over War against Kidnappers

Worried by the increasing activities of kidnappers and cultists, 14 communities in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, have have vowed to comb the forests in their land to flush out all criminals.

In recent times, some motorists and commercial buses have been kidnapped while travelling through the area especially to and from neighbouring Imo State.

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, had at the inauguration of the new local government council chairmen in the state on June 18, given them marching orders to fight insecurity and crime in their domains.

Addressing journalists at Isiokpo yesterday, the Chairman of Ikwerre Local Government Council, Samuel Nwanosike, said the communities had agreed to take over the war against criminals and criminal activities in the area.

He noted that criminals were overtaking communities and converting farmland and forests to kidnappers and armed robbers hideouts, sometimes with the active connivance of the community officials.

He gave cult groups and kidnappers operating in communities in the local government area an ultimatum of three weeks to turn a new leaf and surrender their arms and ammunition to security agencies or face the wrath of the law.

He also said he had given himself a three-week deadline to clear the forests of criminals and encourage farmers in the area to return to their farm lands stressing that the council was already compiling names of women who collect money from criminals to cook and send food to them in the forests.

"Very soon communities will move into the forests en masse to flush out criminals taking refuge there", he said, adding that the situation had become so bad that kidnap and cult gang leaders no longer respect traditional rulers but sometimes summon them to their houses to flog them.

Furthermore, he said: "The amnesty that was granted to criminals some time ago was done in conjunction with security agencies and there were no monies attached to it.

I was the Caretaker Committee Chairman then. Soon after, some of those people who were granted amnesty returned to crime and criminality.

"The criminals still have the opportunity to turn a new leaf and surrender their arms and ammunition to security agencies. Thank God we now have a Police Area Commander here. The Director of DSS is here and the JTF is here. Let them surrender their arms and they will be taken care of.

Nwanosike further explained that he dissolved the leadership of the

Community Development Committees (CDC) of the 14 communities in the area because of involvement of some of the chairmen in cultism.

He said: "How can you come to

a community where you claim to be a CDC chairman and people are going about with AK-47 rifles. We found out that majority of the CDC chairmen belong to either Deygbam

or Deywell cult groups. How can a community move forward with such persons?

"Community leaders were subjecting themselves to the rulership of

the so-called Civilian Generals who terrorise our communities. How can a chief go to the house of a criminal for settlement of issues? You see these chiefs being flogged by these boys.