Okorocha And The Security Challenge In Imo

By Chuks OLUIGBO

When recently the Imo State government launched a special security outfit tagged Operation Rescue, the move was greeted with euphoria. There and then, the outfit was equipped with 100 security vehicles and gadgets purportedly acquired with N567 million belonging to the state which had been stashed away by previous administrations for over 12 years now in a hidden account tagged Traditional Institution Account. 

Imo D-Gov, Jude Agbaso (3rd left), accompanied by other personalities during the launch

 

Speaker after speaker at the occasion held at the Government House, Owerri, expressed optimism that the state was finally on the path to winning the war against crime in the state. Governor Rochas Okorocha, represented by his deputy, Sir Jude Agbaso, said that Operation Rescue, which is anchored on the combined team of police, army and state security service, is aimed at ensuring effective community policing in the state so as to prevent and curb crimes, especially with the approach of the ember months when crime rate is believed to be on the increase. Men of the team are expected to patrol all the communities in the state. He also noted that the flag-off was to showcase the preparedness of the state administration to combat crime in the state, adding that the 100 Ford brand security vehicles were acquired at the lowest price, while disclosing that a maintenance unit will be set up to ensure adequate maintenance of the vehicles.

Speaking also, the Commander, 34 Field Artillery Brigade, Obinze, Brig-Gen A. I. G. Danpome, expressed delight over Governor Okorocha’s security initiatives which he said are adequate to boost security and ensure safety in the state, stressing the need to back up the security vehicles with good logistics and digital communication equipment for more effective fighting of crime in the state.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mohammad Abudullahi, indicated that his command is ready to reduce crime in the state to zero level. He asserted that his men have embarked on ‘stop and search’ operations and will execute search warrant to fight car snatching, rape, kidnapping and other criminal activities and urged members of the public to partner with the team by giving vital information to the police urgently.

On his part, the director, State Security Service, Mr. Sam Kalama, described Operation Rescue as an integrated system of security, which would enable his command to swing into action for effective intelligence gathering and timely response in the fight against crime. He also said that the security vehicles would be stationed strategically to beat time and space.

A traditional ruler in the state, Eze Thomas Obiefule, also expressed optimism that Governor Okorocha’s security initiative would go a long way to ensure safety in the state, noting that all the traditional rulers in the state have been empowered with security votes and are as such in a position to fight crime in their various communities.

Before now, Governor Okorocha had emphasized security as one of the three cardinal points of his Rescue Agenda, the other two being health and education. The first thing he did was to announce the proscription of state vigilante, maintaining that vigilante groups would start and end at the community and local council levels. Literally, he handed over the security of the state to the traditional rulers who would now act as chief security officers within their various communities. To facilitate this, he increased the monthly allowance of traditional rulers from N80,000 to N100,000 as well as empowered them with monthly security votes. 

Some of the security vehicles provided for Operation Rescue

Next, the governor created the office of Mayor for each of the three zones of the state, namely: Owerri, Okigwe and Orlu. The Mayor in each of the zones acts as special adviser, Mayoral Affairs, to the governor. They are also charged with the task of maintaining law and order as well as fast-tracking development in their areas.

As laudable as the above initiatives may sound, and in spite of the euphoria and optimism they have generated, to what extent they have helped or will help to improve the security situation in the state is yet to be seen. 

To begin with, Operation Rescue is not the first of its kind. The immediate past administration in Imo State under Dr. Ikedi Ohakim did launch a special crime crack squad which it called Operation Festival, but the special squad unfortunately did not perform any special wonder. Regrettably, under their very nose, men of the underworld unleashed a grand festival of kidnapping cum armed robbery in the state with such impunity, and the anti-crime squad fell flat on their face. Government’s inability to rise up to the challenge led many people to suspect that perhaps the state government had a hand in the whole show, especially in the wake of the kidnap of Dr. Vincent Udokwu, two-time Chief of Staff to ex-Governor Achike Udenwa and Health Commissioner under the Ohakim administration.

Equally, across the states of the nation, we have had many such special anti-crime squads in the past. There have been special squads like Operation Sweep, Operation Fire for Fire, Operation Wipe, Operation Storm, Operation Rapid Response, Quick Response Squad, AIG’s Crack Squad, Operation Thunderstorm, and many more. Also, sometime ago when the high incidence of kidnapping and armed robbery in the South-East was becoming some sort of national embarrassment, it was reported that President Goodluck Jonathan, because he considered kidnapping as having the same gravity with terrorism, had implemented an Anti-Terrorism Squad, made up of specially trained police and military officers, to help reduce kidnapping and armed robbery in the region. Yet crime has remained at an all-time high, with suicide bombers now joining in the league, successfully bombing such high security locations as the police headquarters and the United Nations building in Abuja.

In the meantime, the ugly menace of kidnapping has resurfaced in Imo State, and the governor is seen to be doing nothing about it. Recently, precisely on Sunday, August 14, 2011, wife of the ousted chairman of Isu Local Government Area of the state was abducted on her way to her village church, with her abductors demanding N150 million ransom. Few days later, they were said to have called a member of the abducted woman’s family who told them he was in far away Abia State and that they should contact those closer home. That same night, the abductors stormed their victim’s country home, which incidentally is the palace of the traditional ruler of the community, and unleashed terror, shooting sporadically at the gates and in the air for over two hours, unchallenged. And there is a police station within earshot. Unconfirmed reports say that over 120 pellets were picked up at the scene later in the morning. The above is just one example of what is gradually becoming a weekly occurrence.

In the face of all this, it is no use over-stressing the point that the governor needs to really rise up to the security challenge in the state, and urgently too. It is understandable that the task ahead is an arduous one. But the governor must not make a show of fighting crime; he must be seen to be fighting crime. Crime fighting does not end in launching fantastic special anti-crime squad, by whatever name it goes. Past experiences have proved this point beyond reasonable doubt. There must be genuine willingness to fight crime. As ace stand-up comedian, Uche Ogbuagu, who incidentally is now in Gov. Okorocha’s cabinet, once said: “Anything the government says it cannot put a stop to, then it means the government has a hand in it, one way or another.” That is food for thought.

Furthermore, making traditional rulers chief security officers of their communities when many of them have questionable characters and some are known to collaborate with and even sponsor criminals is definitely not the way to go. It seems as if the governor is already preparing an escape route, a defence, in case of failure. He is the chief security officer of the state and must take full responsibility for it, not passing the buck to traditional rulers. Again, assigning traditional rulers with security votes at a time when the issue of security votes has come under serious question smacks of insensitivity. Is it not contradictory that a governor who made a public show of slashing the state security votes from N6.5 billion to N2.5 billion will turn around and increase the number of beneficiaries of the so-called security votes?

Already, opinions are rife that the governor may not after all possess any magic wand and that the whole mystery around the Owelle Rochas Okorocha phenomenon will soon be demystified. For many, Gov. Okorocha is gradually toeing the very same path that led his predecessor to his Waterloo. These may be mere opinions, but the governor needs to prove them wrong. The security issue in Imo may yet turn out to be his first real acid test for the governor. That he gave free education is taken for granted by many who think that it would have been a sin if he didn't, considering what he had already done in that sector as a private individual. How he handles the security issue, they say, may determine how his name will be written in the annals of Imo, and indeed Nigerian history.