Police vow to keep Boko Haram away from S/South

Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Tunde Ogunsakin, said in Port Harcourt yesterday that his command would take proactive measures against infiltration of Boko Haram into the South-south and called for collective support of residents of Rivers State against insurgency.

Ogunsakin who spoke at a meeting on security awareness said he was willing to give attention to stakeholders who genuinely desire to contribute to efforts to check terrorist activities.

“As far as the security of the state is concerned, my doors are open, you can call any of the dedicated lines that have been provided by the command to alert us on any distress or complaint or get to us through text messages”, he said.

He pointed out that the command would soon invite principals of secondary schools for a briefing on the need to review security measures in schools.

“As directed by the InspectorGeneral of Police, the current sensitization of stakeholders will be replicated at the area commands. In furtherance of the IGP’s directive, all area commanders have been directed to begin similar sensitization in their various commands”, he said.

Responding to a question from a community leader on the relevance of vigilante groups, considering the spate of security breaches by insurgents, Ogunsakin said vigilante groups are useful provided they operate under police supervision.

The commissioner earlier paraded five armed robbery suspects including Goodnews Ezaru, Alexander Chibuike, Chimerenu Amadi, Godswill Umem and Chinedu Oguike who were arrested in connection with robberies at Aluu, Diobu and Trans-Amadi areas of Port Harcourt. Three kidnap suspects, Anderson Alex, Samuel Fineface and Emmanuel Owiko were also paraded.