THE army has been urged to set up a team to monitor the activities of soldiers deployed to the streets in Port Harcourt to enforce peace. Most residents who decried the conducts of the soldiers said they had started molesting and harassing lawful and responsible residents.
At press time some pedestrians were seen rolling in gutters at the instance of the soldiers. And the soldiers were also seen forcefully extorting money from commercial vehicles drivers on the roads. Those who spoke said since there was no emergency rule in the state there was need for the soldiers to respect the dignity of man.
At the time of filling this report about seven able bodied young men were tied to one of the trenches erected by the soldiers very close to the Mile one market. Vanguard check revealed they had been in that state since morning. Their offences could not be confirmed.
The soldiers in recent time had been compelling some pedestrian youths to remove their tops and they check their bodies for tattoos or any alleged cult marks or incision. The unlucky youths would be marched into their vehicles after severe beatings.
Meanwhile, as a lasting solution to the problems of militancy in the state, the state governor Celestine Omehia has vowed to flush out slum settlements in the state capital and replace them with six thousand housing units.
the state said without demolishing the water fronts the crusade against militancy and cultism in the state would not be too successful. According to him, because of the nature of these shanties they serve as good hide out for the miscreants.
The governor also said the crusade would not just end in the state capital as he had concluded arrangements to take the fight to the rural areas where most of the brigands run to after wrecking havoc in the state capital.
The governor regretted the negative image the activities of the cultists had brought the state. He dismissed claims in some quarters that his administration was working with any of the cult groups. Continuing, he said any Caretaker Committee Chairman in the state found to be using unconventional security would be shown the way out.
Aug232007