FG Seeks Partnership with Rivers on Security

The Federal Government has called for partnership between it and the Rivers State Government to tackle security challenges in the state.

The Minister of Interior, Lt General Abdulrahman Danbazzau, spoke yesterday at Government House Port Harcourt when he visited Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, over the New Year tragedy at Omoku that claimed the lives of 17 persons in the hands of yet-to-be-identified gunmen on their way home from the cross-over service.

Danbazzau said he was in Rivers State at the instance of President Muhammadu Buhari to assess the security situation in the state.

On behalf of the President, he commiserated with the Government and people of Rivers State over the killings at Omoku.

"Rivers State is important to the country, particularly when it comes to the issue of the economy. It is very important that the Federal Government partners with the state to see how any security gaps can be closed for adequate protection of lives and property," he said.

Meanwhile, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has declared that there is an orchestrated plot to create the impression that the state was unsafe through the promotion of targeted cult killings.

Wike said the security agencies in the state know the cult kingpins terrorising flashpoints in the state.

He said: "The Security agencies have the profiles of all cult kingpins in different parts of the state and they know their locations.

"There is no wisdom in the politicisation of security. Insecurity can affect anybody. You can never know the next victim of insecurity."

He urged the security agencies and the Federal Government to deploy personnel to cult flashpoints in the state to forestall repeated attacks by cultists.

"In every system, the security agencies know the flashpoints. Here we requested for the strengthening of security around these flashpoints, especially areas with high prevalence of cultists. "