After two weeks of sustained violence which led to the death of several persons and the destruction of property worth billions of naira, the Rivers State Government on Friday imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the state.
This is even as President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on Friday ordered the Defence Headquarters to make sure that peace is restored to the troubled Niger Delta region without further delay.
The crisis, which led to the deployment of troops in streets in Port Harcourt, had compelled some residents to flee the city while others have been holed inside their houses. While street fighting subsided early in the week, the suspected killing of one of the militant leaders, Mr. Soboma George, during an armed confrontation with troops on Thursday morning led to the escalation of crisis in the state. Residents of the affected areas have since fled their homes, while public and private institutions as well as business centres in the area have remained shut. But the Commissioner for Information in the state, Mr. Emma Okah, who announced the imposition of the curfew, said that it would take effect from 7pm to 6am daily with effect from Friday.
Okah said, “The Rivers State Government has reviewed the security situation in the state generally and particularly in Port Harcourt and wishes to inform the public that arising from the combined efforts of the security agencies, the state government is satisfied with the current level of security in the state.
“For the avoidance of doubt, there will be no movement between 7pm and 6am during the period of the curfew. Members of the public are enjoined to go about their lawful duties peacefully without fear. They are also advised to ensure that they conclude all their daily transactions and get back to their homes before the commencement of the curfew and to adhere strictly to the period allowed for the movement in order to avoid any embarrassment from the security agencies.
“Those who engage in essential duties, especially staff of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria and medical workers, shall be allowed movement subject to proof of identity.”
Okah said the timely deployment of soldiers helped in flushing the criminal elements from Port Harcourt and its environs. But our correspondent, who visited some of the troubled areas, saw them littered with corpses and empty bullet shells while some houses were riddled with bullet holes. Some of such areas include the Marine Base, Lagos Bus Stop, and most parts of the Old Port Harcourt Township.
While addressing journalists, the state Governor, Mr. Celestine Omehia said, “The federal agencies have taken positions and the criminals have been driven out of town. They are no longer bold enough to come out of their hideouts and confront the law enforcement agents. For goodness sake, why should the majority suffer in the hands of a few in a legally instituted government? It was a serious challenge to the state.”
He said that those who perpetrated crimes in the state were not involved in the Niger Delta struggle, saying that security operatives had been deployed from various parts of the country to help in chasing the miscreants away from the state. Omehia said he had no association with any cult group, adding that he made this known to the people while he campaigned for the governorship of the state.
He admitted that a lot of people lost their lives during the confrontation between the military and the cultists, saying that the appropriate agencies of the government had already begun to clear the affected areas. He assured that those whose houses were destroyed during the fighting would be assisted by the government through the Peace and Rehabilitation Committee.
He said his administration was only interested in rehabilitating repentant cultists and make them to become useful to themselves and the society but vowed that he would no longer allow criminals to take the people for a ride.
The situation in the town has forced residents to engage in panic withdrawals from banks that were open on Friday. Most of the banks could not contend with the rush for cash and had to devise means to ward off some of the customers. Most residents of the Marine Base, where George lived and was attacked on Thursday, began to move out in droves on Friday.
Sources close to the Presidency said Yar’Adua’s directive became necessary as law and order seemed to have broken down in the oil rich region. The Director of Defence Information, Col. Mohammed Yusuf, who confirmed the directive, said the directorate was ready to carry out the order to the letter.
He said it would be wrong to assume that the DHQ had been tolerating the militants.
Yusuf, who spoke in an exclusive telephone interview with our correspondent, said, “Yes, we have a directive from the Federal Government that we must restore and maintain peace in the Niger Delta. The directive is that there must be peace and that all law-abiding citizens and non-indigenes must be protected and allowed to go about their normal duties unmolested.”
The acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, on Friday said the police would carry out a comprehensive DNA test to ascertain whether it was true that one of the charred bodies of three cultists killed during a shoot-out with a combined team of soldiers and Police is that of a militant leader, Mr. George Soboma.
Okiro who spoke while answering questions from newsmen on the Port Harcourt mayhem, also said that two policemen sustained injuries during the shoot-out. The police boss said 34 people had so far been arrested, but that the police were screening them to know their level of involvement. He added that at the moment, records show that three people were killed, while two policemen and some soldiers were injured.
Also on Friday, the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, told newsmen at the presidential retreat for ministers, permanent secretaries and special advisers in Abuja that he supported the use of force to quell militant activities in Rivers State.
Aug182007