Governor Nyesom Wike on Monday declared that he and other relevant stakeholders have no excuse for not keeping Rivers state safe from cultism and all forms of criminality even under the stress of the fight against Coronavirus.
Wike made the declaration at the Government House, Port Harcourt as the Commissioner of Police (CP) Mustapha Dandaura displayed before him, a large cache of arms dug out of a forest hideout, Saturday, in Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area where men of Operation Sting struck a criminal gang.
Items displayed by CP Dandaura before Wike include one GPMG No. NN-07-150, two G-3 rifles, one SMG rifle, one rocket launcher, rocket-propelled grenade, five Pump Action guns, 933 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition, 1,111 rounds of 5.56mm live ammunition and 222 rounds of 9mm live ammunition.
Others include 909 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition, 74 rounds of .9mm live ammunition, 728 live cartridges, four AK 47 magazines, G-3 magazines and one SMG magazine, totalling 3,249 rounds of Ammunition/Cartridges.
The Governor before inspecting the recovered arms said, “I have vowed that Rivers must be safe. It is a duty we are committed to carrying out. We have no excuse for not keeping Rivers people safe. Coronavirus is a serious war.
“Add this to the fight against insecurity and you understand it is not easy for us. But we shall continue to work for the security and safety of our people. We don’t want anyone politicising security. We also don’t want anyone to politicise the fight against coronavirus.”
Wike and CP Dandaura expressed suspicion over intentions of the fleeing owners of the buried arms at Ogu/Bolo, noting that the magnitude of weapons recovered during the raid in which one suspect was killed indicated more deep-rooted motives than kidnapping and cultism.
Daudaru said, “You don’t need a submachine gun, rocket launcher to do kidnapping. The source, motives for stocking these arms will be investigated. We are not in war in Rivers. Anyone connected with these arms will be brought to book”
He said crimes in Rivers State have reduced significantly and residents are now more confident to move freely, crediting the Governor for his overwhelming support to service commanders and the establishment of Operation Sting.”
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