While the current wave of insecurity fueled by cultism, kidnapping and other related vices ravage communities across the State, the Paramount Ruler of Ikiri Community in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, Eze (Dr) Amos Nwikiri has revealed that his domain remains a no-go-area for undesirable elements due to the internal security mechanism put in place.
Nwikiri, the Ochi Oha of Ikiri Community and Chairman, Igburu Council of Chiefs who made the declaration while reacting to Governor Wike’s resolve to sanction traditional rulers who shield criminals in their domain, lauded the decision and said it would test the strength of a true traditional ruler who is in touch with his subjects.
He told National Network in an interview at the weekend that any paramount ruler who feigns ignorance of knowledge of his subjects is only being mischievous as, according to him, any ruler who is on ground knows the good, bad and ugly elements in his domain.
“Our governor, before taking such wise decision must have consulted widely and knows the way community operates and exists, and to that extent, any traditional ruler who knows the existence of bad boys in his domain and fails to report them to government should be apprehended and sanctioned”, he said.
The Ikiri monarch, an academic don at the Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH), said his community prides itself as the most peaceful community in ONELGA.
“It is on record that all through the cult related crisis that rocked ONELGA recently and in time past, Ikiri had remained relatively peaceful. We were not hit by the crisis because we were able to build an internal security mechanism which made it difficult for any home to harbor a criminal in the community.
“If my memory serves me right, it was only once that a young man tried to rear up his head by conniving with a notorious criminal in ONELGA and, of course, we had to report him to the police who promptly arrested him and we later heard he was killed during a gun duel with the police. That’s the way we operate in Ikiri; it’s a no-go-area for criminals”, he said.
He advocated that for criminality to be nipped in the bud, every community head should develop a coded system of communication network whereby sensitive information especially such that threatens the peace of the community are promptly relayed to the traditional ruler for immediate action.
While congratulating Governor Wike on his successful inauguration for a second term, Dr. Nwikiri urged him to focus more on human capacity building, adding that one way to do this is to develop the industrial sector to engage the teeming unemployed youths in his community and elsewhere in the State.
He also appealed to security agencies to up the ante to make all the nooks and crannies in the State safe for business and habitation.
