Rivers Governor, Nyesom Wike, has
blamed international oil companies for the recent outbreak of violence and
cult-related activities in the state.
Wike was reacting to the gruesome
killing of 17 people in the state on New Year Day by unknown gunmen,
The governor said oil companies
in the state were awarding surveillance contracts to cultists who in turn use
the money to buy sophisticated weapons to terrorize communities.
The governor spoke on Friday when
he received the visiting Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Danbazzau, at the
Government House, Port Harcourt.
Mr. Danbazzau said he was
directed by President Muhammadu Buhari to visit the state and assess its
security situation because of the killing.
A Government House statement
quoted the governor as telling the minister that the security agencies in the
state knew the cult kingpins terrorising various communities in the state.
“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
politicization of security. Insecurity can affect anybody. You can never know
the next victim of insecurity,” Mr. Wike said, adding that the Inspector
General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has failed to heed several requests made by the
Rivers government for the deployment of special squads to tackle cultism and
kidnapping in the state.
“The peculiar nature of Rivers
State requires peculiar intervention,” the governor said. “Before now, I have
been shouting that we need support to fight crime.”
The governor attacked politicians
whom he said were using the killings to play politics and make false
allegations against the state.
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It would not have been a bad idea for the multinational oil companies to give surveillance contracts to youths and pay them for the job. The fact is there is need for surveillance and so the job was created. It should have been a means of empowerment. So the companies should not be blamed. The question is what are the beneficiaries doing with the earnings? If truly they get such jobs and use the money to buy weapons then they have mental problems. They only need to see what their mates with such equivalent of money in Lagos are doing: investment!
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