Just Imagine Badoo Cultists are in Rivers State

or weeks, Lagos State has been in one of the worst cult crisis ever imagined for a metropolitan city. On a daily basis, blood of the innocent and supposedly guilty flow on the streets on the account of Badoo members going on a ritual killing spree.

Reports had it that a budding comedian, Chinedu Paul alias Think Twice was lynched and burnt to death by a mob. He was lynched alongside two of his friends on the suspicion that they were members of the Badoo.

Badoo members have been killing people in Ikorodu and it was even reported that residents of the area have armed themselves with cutlasses and other weapons.

The residents have resorted to self-help because the security agencies have failed them. They have formed armed vigilance groups, which have bypassed the criminal justice system, dispensing justice on the street as it pleases them. Without thinking twice, they sent MC Think Twice and his friends to untimely graves. Some many other cases abound.

Before the advent of Badoo boys, deadly kidnappers had taken firm hold of Lagos. They kidnapped landlords, teachers, students, traders and other residents at will. They appear to have overwhelmed the security agencies. There was a time when the military bombed their supposed hideouts. But when kidnapping did not abate, the military went into voice mail.

Notorious Evans was arrested in his posh residence in a highbrow residential area in Lagos. Since kidnapping has yet to abate in Lagos, we can safely assume that other “Evanses” are holding sway in different parts of Lagos.

As I penned down this piece, I read online the deadly robbery attack that claimed four lives in Ajah. A movie-like gun battle between the military and the robbers. We cannot begin to discuss the horrible trend of robbery in Lagos.

All this is happening in Lagos which plays host to majority of national print and electronic media. It is happening in Lagos, an APC state, with a friendly relationship with federal security agencies. Yet the crisis has claimed serveral lives.

It is hardly reported with front-page banner headlines. It is hardly included amongst the main news items of any major electronic media.

When it is reported at all, it is done to protect these false reports to create a negative security impression about Rivers State. Today, Rivers State is the safest state in the country, while their host state ranks amongst the most insecure.

Has anybody seen a headline: “Lagos of Blood” on the front page of any national newspaper? Instead, the reporters localise tne deadly crisis to Ikorodu and Ajegunle.

Has anyone seen Gbenga Aruleba invite a PDP leader to his programme to rain insults on Ambode? Has anyone read in The Nation or Punch where an editorial was written placing the blame squarely on the doorstep of Ambode? Where are the paid columnists whose intelligence is at the peak when concocted stories are published on Rivers State?

Nobody is gloating over the security misfortune of Lagos State, but the truth remains that the media cannot afford to be agents of destruction as has played out in recent times. Like Governor Wike continues to declare, we cannot afford to politicise security. The media cannot afford to be in the vanguard of APC’s plot to de-market Rivers State.

This unfortunate security crisis in Lagos affords the mainstream media the opportunity to reflect on its failures. What is good for Lagos, is good for Rivers State.

Today, CNN is battling for credibility because of its political inclination during the last American election. Here in Nigeria, the media controlled by APC spinned all manner of lies against ex-President Goodluck Jonathan. That lack of objectivity has crippled the nation.

The United States of America has several major cities thriving and supporting that country’s economy. It is foolhardy for the APC-controlled media to think that it will be profitable to undo Rivers State, so that Lagos State can stand alone. The consequences will be too grave to imagine.

God strategically placed Governor Wike in Rivers State at this time to serve as the conscience of the nation. He is here to serve as the required stabilising factor for the sustenance of true democracy. Therefore, he should be allowed to continue to provide the alternative platform through his outstanding roll out of projects and programmes.

I cringe when I imagine what the headlines would be if Badoo boys were killing people with reckless abandon in Rivers. I am horribly frightened to think of the manner of men like Gbenga Aruleba would be discussing with in his Focus APC studio. Even in time of peace, Aruleba invites murder suspects to lampoon Rivers State. The Lagos deadly security crisis is a wake-up call for the media to retrace her steps. This is the time to jettison Pro-APC reportage and embrace the tenets of objective journalism.

I must state categorically that in the strict sense, once a governor has provided logistics, funded security operations and supported the welfare of security agents in his state, he has performed his obligations. The reason is simple: In the flawed federalism practiced today, the police, DSS, Armed Forces, para military and quasi-security agencies are strictly under the control of the Federal Government. There is no governor who dishes out orders to the police commissioner or military commanders in his state.

It is even worse for opposition states like Rivers, where the security agencies are subtly instructed to undermine the state government for political reasons. Governor Wike has bent backwards, employed intelligent strategies and tactics to keep Rivers State safe for investments.

Over the last two years, Governor Wike initiated and signed into law the anti-Kidnapping and Anti-Cultism law passed by the Rivers State House of Assembly. The law gave the security agencies the legal instrument to tackle kidnappers and cultists .

To strengthen the security architecture of the state; Governor Wike in the course of the last two years, has distributed over 150 security vans to all the security agencies in the state to fight crime.

The Wike administration has also procured six armoured personnel carriers, while 50 broken down armoured personnel carriers have been rehabilitated by the Rivers State Government for use of security agencies. Eight gunboats were donated to the Nigerian Navy, while another 13 have been ordered for further distribution to security agencies.

It is clear that the APC controlled media are afraid to hold the Federal Government responsible for the failures of the politically tainted security agencies. But the truth is known to all.

In Rivers State, Governor Wike remains focused to protect lives and property. His overwhelming success is premised on the fact that he is not moved by negative propaganda as sponsored by the APC . The Lagos tragedy is a reminder of the inadequacies of every conspiracy.