The African Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS), in a recent report, estimated that about 50,000 arms were in wrong hands, while over 1,800 persons have lost their lives since April this year in terrorism-related attacks in Rivers State. The report added that the attacks were carried out by identifiable, well organised groups, contrary to the widely-held belief that the violence was perpetrated by common criminals. “In all the operations and attacks involving these groups, the ease, proficiency in the use of AK-47 rifle and the G.3 sub-machine gun, which are the weapons of choice, is stunning,” the AISS report said. Senior government and security officials involved in oil bunkering were fingered as financiers of the terror network. Other than oil bunkering, political rivalry, chieftaincy tussles and inter/intra communal squabbles or a combination of the factors, are at the root of violence in the state.

Governor Peter Odili had, on several occasions, attested to the worsening security situation in the state. Addressing the State Advisory Council last month in Port Harcourt, Odili sought the cooperation of traditional rulers, even if it would involve using “traditional methods,” to fight what he identified as “the menace of cultism, youth restiveness, attitudinal change and inter communal clashes.”

In 2003, armed men from Amalem, a neighbouring community, assassinated the monarch, “Uwema” of Ogbema, Sessery Amachree, and fled with his remains. This represents just one of the gory highlights of the unabating Abua/Odual conflict that has claimed scores of lives. Lingering politically motivated crises have, similarly, continued to claim lives in Ogu/Bolo, Okrika, Degema and Buguma, with terror gangs as the foot soldiers. One of the latest victims of what the state government has now dubbed cult violence, is the traditional ruler (Amanyanabo) of Kalabari Kingdom, Prof. Theophilus Princewill, who fled his palace in Buguma and is now on self-exile, after a close shave with death when cultists torched his palace late last year. Princewill lost his personal secretary and two policemen to the palace attack.

Odili has repeatedly denied allegations that his government fuels the gangsterism, but some highly placed members of his team are strongly suspected to be the backers. The governor recently convened a stakeholders’ meeting in the state capital, attended by representatives of the Police, Army, Air Force and Navy, to address the growing insecurity in the state. He also signed into law, recently, a bill — Secret Cult and Similar Activities (Prohibition) Bill, 2004 — which reportedly prescribes a 10-year jail term with no option of fine for cult convicts. Presently, the state is prosecuting an illegal arms recovery project that promises a N100,000 cash benefit in exchange for every arm surrendered by cultists.

The influx of illegal arms to Rivers State cannot be divorced from the sophisticated weaponry, which illegal oil bunkerers rely on. Again, Odili and his political opponents had traded accusations of arms stockpiling and the training of private militia for political gains ahead of the 2003 general elections. Some oil multinationals have, likewise, been accused of arms import to safeguard their installations. It is not evident that these grave allegations were properly investigated or anyone brought to book. The threatening anarchy is the repercussion for not curbing the rampant crude oil theft in the area. For too long, the security operatives have turned a blind eye to the heinous crimes committed by political thugs, hooligans and common criminals operating as cultists. It is deeply rooted. Therefore, passing more anti-cult laws and soliciting the return of illegal arms are simply begging the issue.

The failure, over the years, to diligently prosecute the criminals remains the critical factor responsible for the festering climate of violence in the state, not the lack of relevant laws. Rivers’ terror gangs are not mere cultists. They are common criminals — murderers, armed robbers, assassins, arsonists, rapists and anarchists. The Rivers State Government should call these hoodlums by their proper names and bring them to book according to law. A government that cannot guarantee the security and welfare of the people is not fit to be in office.