By Our Correspondent
A Niger Delta based Non-Governmental Organization, Center for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPE), has raised an alarms over the high crime rate in the oil city of Warri and its environs, and advised the Delta State Government to put adequate measures in place to checkmate the nefarious activities By of hoodlums.
Speaking with news men in Warri on Monday, the National Coordinator, CEPEJ, Comrade Sheriff Mulade, lamented that the level of insecurity in the state was worrisome, and urged the government to work out plans to police effectively the state.
According to him, the primary responsibility of the government is the protection of the lives and property of her people as enshrined in the statute book.
“As Christmas is fast approaching; we have noticed that the incident of armed robbery and kidnapping is rising. Everywhere people are complaining about robbery. We urge the state government to team up with the security agencies and work out practical measures to check this ugly trend in Warri and its environs as well as other parts of the state.
‘’We also urge security agencies to intensify their efforts so that the State will become uncomfortable to criminals that have brought sorrow, tears and blood to many homes in the State,” he said.
He advised that ‘’disciplined soldiers and mobile policemen’’ should be stationed at the flashpoint areas in Warri and the surrounding cities and towns to ensure that these areas become crime-free, stressing that “no effort should be spared in the fight against criminal elements in the state’’.
He however urged the people of the state to be proactive by passing on relevant and prompt information to security agents and government officials on time to ensure that cases of robberies and other criminal’s acts are nipped in the bud.
He admitted that security agents alone cannot checkmate crime wave in the state and called on all hands to be on deck to engender peace and stability in the state for its development.
‘’The security agents alone cannot bring security to the level that is required in Delta State, because security involves everybody, therefore, all and sundry must be involved. We advise the citizens to give useful information to the security agents on any threat to the lives of people whether on land or waterways, because security agents cannot work efficiently without information. Besides, we implore the security agents to always treat such information with confidentiality and protect the identity of the informant’’, he said.
He, however charged Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to redeem his campaign pledges to ‘’provide prosperity for all Deltans’’, otherwise such promises would be regarded as mere political jingles to win their votes.
