Rivers State is daily cast in bloody and agonizing mold from brutal crimes and bestiality but Okrika that used to be in the news some years ago has not once been mentioned in this. From all of Emohua to Ahoada, Elele, Ikwerre, Aluu, Eleme and Ogoni areas, and many more places, its news of beheading, kidnapping, rape, barbaric operations by gunmen in worst actions than herdsmen and Boko Haramists. Yet, not in Okrika! This has made analysts and political watchers to wonder why Okrika is silent.
A one day visit to Okrika and deep interactions with community people revealed two power points in the place that may have fashioned out a security strategy that seems to work: the police and the monarch. The police are led by a Superintendent of Police (SP) Manasis Jesse as Divisional Police Officer (DPO) and the traditional rulership is led by the king, Ateke Tom, Amanyanabo of Okrika-Kochiri.
Tom in particular is a peculiar personality; one of the Niger Delta militants who fought for resource control, but received the FG Amnesty offer which required the warlords to be of peaceful conduct thereafter. The interesting thing is that whereas violence has returned in communities controlled by almost all others, not so in Tom’s area of influence, at least Okrika. Many of those interviewed see this as a case of integrity.
Instead, BDSUNDAY found evidence of a network of security between the police and the monarch to deal ruthlessly with anyone trying to return to arms and violence in the area. Thus, as youths return to guns to feed, Okrika seems out of it; not because some persons do not try but because of immediate and prompt actions taken by both the king and the police leadership in the area that brooks no breach.
Crime is not perpetuated by animals but humans. As John Dunning, a crime reporter per excellence wrote in his book, ‘Mindless Murders’, that, “There is overwhelming evidence that humans are the most dangerous life form ever to appear on this planet and the only predator that has ever succeeded in reducing their numbers is man himself”. This implies that since the creation of the universe, man remains the biggest and leading threat to himself. This is so in Rivers State where people see nothing wrong in senseless killing, rape and kidnapping.
The most dastardly killing reigning in Port Harcourt at the moment is a woman who was forced to provide the kitchen knife with which her husband’s head was severed. To make the ridicule worse, she was asked to fetch a container (bucket) and was made to carry the head and lower it into the container. The assailants now carried the bucket to the front of the community worship centre (church) and dropped it there to form spectacle.
Insecurity is not peculiar to Rivers State, however, but people that live in that geographical space raise concerns over their safety due to daily reports of killing, beheading, abduction, rape and other barbaric actions.
Yes, like in other parts of Nigeria, people in some parts of Rivers State live with palpable fear over insecurity around them. Criminal elements seem to have taken over the socio-economic space of some of the local government areas. It is either dastard cult killing and kidnapping in communities or other forms of brazen banditry. Profile of criminality has been on the increase in most parts of the 23 local government areas of the state such as Ikwerre, Eleme, and Ogoni geographical areas where hundreds of human lives have been wasted in few months period.
In most of these affected communities, it has been an orgy of blood-letting. The criminals seem to be beating their chests and winning the battles against security agencies. Some make bold to say that security apparatus in the state may have its limitations and this is attributed to lack of adequate operational logistics, and almost zero levels of sophisticated arms compared available to them in contrast with the fire-brand ones at the disposal of most criminals.
One would, however, observe that some security personnel especially the police are simply wimpish. Some officers are seen as not brave or confident enough to face the threats or challenges they come face-to-face with in operational situations and in criminals’ hide-outs.
Notwithstanding, the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, seems to have fought back in the war of insecurity in the state in the past four years. He has donated patrol vans to the police, armoured boats to the Navy, and other logistics. The immediate past commissioners of police in the state and other security agencies have also been credited with sterling efforts to save the state from insecurity and the menace of criminality across the state.
Sources said Governor Wike’s administration may be battling with sabotage against his security efforts despite the fact that crime probably has no satisfactory level of solution in Nigeria.
In his dogged determination recently, Wike put all community chiefs, leaders and local government executive chairmen on their toes to rise up to the security challenges alongside security agencies in their domains or get the boot.
A recent BDSUNDAY investigation revealed that the Okrika local government area has been adjudged as one of the most peaceful council areas out of the 23 local council areas in the state. Stakeholders within the community attested that the DPO in Okrika has unleashed strategies that have closed ranks with sections of the Okrika community and chiefs, elders, leaders and youths in his fight against violent crime. This is said to have led to unprecedented peace in Okrika; as many eyes pop.
Jesse assumed duty in March 2017, but a cross-section of Okrikans who spoke with our correspondent admitted that before his arrival, there had been many cases of security breaches. In some situations, police could not penetrate some residential areas and terrains to effect common arrest or carry out investigation. Not anymore! This is said to be because, Jesse and the monarch have found a way around this.
Some of those who have deep understanding of the security network and template being implemented in Okrika include the chairman of Okrika Divisional Council of Chiefs, Sunday K. Amiesumak Kalawudo (JP), the chairman of the Community Development Committee (CDC), Temaso Sekubo, and the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) chairman, Alen Amakiri. These men in separate chats quoted to have appraised the latest security successes and maintained that Okrika now stands out in peace and security due to community policing model unveiled in the area of late.
The three chairmen each stated that since Jesse assumed duty in the division, Okrikans sleep with two eyes closed. They however admitted that no government or society can stop crime totally.
Kalawudo stressed that, “In recent times, some local government areas in the state have continued to experience high level of kidnapping, cult killing and other crime-related cases, but we Okrika opinion leaders embraced bond and synergy with the police division to expose any identified criminal element in any part of our community. This is why we remain the most peaceful town in Rivers State today”.
Authoritative sources further revealed that the police division works with the Okrika leaders who seem to have interest of their people at heart and that the DPO uses local intelligence to access the people and places to know who is an influential leader or not; to know the weakness of the non-leaders. This now enables the police to penetrate all nooks and crannies for easy identification of bad elements.
Our source further revealed that no criminal goes scot-free if apprehended irrespective of his or her connections, or affiliation to a ruling class in the community. They noted that the DPO insists on the police treating everybody equal before the law in their crime fighting methods and investigations.
The Superintendent of Police (Jesse), a United Nations-trained community policing expert, is said to have worked hard on the issue of bail. Many people seem to hate the police because of bail issues where most persons say they are always made to pay fees for bail. Sources said this is not to be mentioned in Okrika these days. Officers found in breach of this sacred code (bail is free) have been made to face the standing order.
BDSUNDAY inquiries also identified the other important factor in the recent peace or absence of killings in Okrika to the royal father of Okrika-Kochiri community, the king, Ateke Tom. Many pointed at him as one of the brains behind police successes in the area. Sources said the king, a recipient of FG amnesty on security initiative stands out high in the entire Okrika in the war against crime in the area. He is feared by criminals for never shielding or protecting any suspect reported to him. “He makes sure that such an element is routed out and handed over to the police” a police source stated.
On his own, the DPO is said to pay huge attention to the welfare of his men, a critical factor in crime fighting, according to sources. Since his assumption of command in March 2017, Jesse is said to have seen to the construction of a 250-seater building named after a one-time commissioner of police in the state, Zaki M. Ahmed. The facility has a squash hall, restaurant, PCRC office, sports complex, officers’ mess, etc.
He is said to have attended to the most critical need of most police officers, a place to stay when on transit. He built a flat of four self-contained bedrooms, upgraded the station to international standards with close circuit television (CCTV), and other surveillance systems around the complex.
In May, 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Muhammadu Adamu, to immediately implement community policing scheme across the country. This is a structure which would enable traditional rulers to maintain effective cultural and social influence and control over their subjects.
Adamu had also explained that the community policing model envisaged for the country would involve the establishment and utilization of special constables as provided for in section 50 (1) of the Police Act cap P19 LFN 2004. What this initiative seeks to achieve seems to be what Okrika has already achieved through the effective collaboration between the Police Division led by Jesse and the traditional institution led by the monarch, Ateke Tom.
This must be why Governor Wike frowned and even dethroned some monarchs where killings and kidnappings seem to have taken over. He must be thinking of how some few monarchs have worked with the police to effectively impose peace and security in their domains. Okrika must be on the governor’s mind.
Ignatius Chukwu and Godwin Egba
