Many cultists in Rivers State have surrendered their arms to the government as the governor conducts amnesty programs.
Rivers State governor Wike at the handing over of weapons by cultists
The government of Rivers State on Tuesday concluded the first phase
of the State Amnesty Programe, with Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike
disbanding all vigilante committees in all communities of the state.
The governor also directed security agencies to henceforth go after
all cultists and kidnappers who refused to voluntarily accept the
amnesty offer of the state government, pointing out that his
administration has zero tolerance to crime and criminality.
The governor spoke at the Government House, Port Harcourt during
the submission of the report of the Rivers State Amnesty Programme.
The State Amnesty Committee had its membership drawn from the
Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Navy , the Nigerian Police and the
Department of State Services.
The governor described the State Amnesty Programme as ‘very
sucessful’, noting that the fact that 22, 430 cultists accepted amnesty
and surrendered 911 assorted arms with 7661 assorted ammunitions and 147
explosives has made the state relatively peaceful.
"But to show that Government is serious, I hereby disband all
vigilante committees in the various communities. I direct the security
agencies to make sure that we don’t have such committees except they
profile their members to prove that they don’t belong to any cult
groups. Initially , people felt it was a political game . I thank God
almighty that we have proved our critics wrong that we are serious to
ensure the security of lives and property in the state. We cannot say
that we can totally eliminate crime, but that you and I can sleep very
well today, unlike in the past when cultists and kidnappers had a field
day."
Speaking further, the governor said:
"For those we have given the opportunity, but they refused to
embrace amnesty, I direct the security agencies to go after them. The
time for amnesty is over and we are going to take the war to them. Since
we have given you the opportunity and you have refused to surrender,
you have become enemies of the state and the state will fight to the
last to make sure that criminality is reduced to the barest minimum, so
that investors will continue to have confidence to invest their funds in
this state.
"To tell politicians that you must not politicize crime. If
anybody is involved in crime, we must not reduce it to party politics.
When somebody is a cultist, don’t say that that person belongs to party
A, that is not fair. We have to fight crime. We have to join hands to
bring lasting peace to this state."
The governor explained that the state government resolved not to
monetise the amnesty programme because it wanted the cultists and
kidnappers to sincerely embrace the programme. He assured all the
repentant cultists and kidnappers that they will be duly rehabilitated
and made to become useful to the society.
"We did not exchange money for the return of arms. It was
voluntary. We said, return your arms and denounce any cult group you
belong to and we will give you amnesty. All those who have not gone back
to crime, be rest assured that nobody will arrest you. But if by
tomorrow, you return to crime, know that amnesty does not cover you. I
urge the Federal Government to give us the support we require for peace
to reign in this state. Rivers State is the Treasure Base of this
nation. If there is crisis in Rivers State, it will affect Nigeria and
so for us as a government, we will continue to partner with Federal
Government to achieve zero tolerance to crime. We will not support
crime. It doesn’t matter the political divide. If you are involved, you
will face the law."
Presenting the report of the State Amnesty Programme Committee, Sir
Kenneth Chinda said the committee was successful because it adsopted a
direct dialogue approach by establishing direct, honest, transparent and
sincere contacts with leaderships of the various groups through a
discreet confidence building process.
The committee called on the State Government to disband all armed
community vigilance groups and also direct all communities to surrender
their weapons to the relevant security agencies.
He informed the governor that a total of 22, 430 cultists and
militants renounced cultism and embraced the amnesty offer, while they
surrendered 911 arms, 7661 assorted ammunition and 147 explosives.
The submission of report by the Rivers State Amnesty Committee was witnessed by all the Service Commanders in Rivers State.
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