Some concerned elders of Rumuigbo and its environs have called on landlords and other residents to ensure prompt payment of their monthly security fee in order to continue to enjoy a crime-free and serene environment currently prevalent in the area. Their view came to the fore as a fallout of the security meeting held recently.
According to reports gathered by the National Network from a source close to the security committee, some communities in the area were frequently attacked by robbers at midnight, leading to the formation of community based security watch to man entrance gates , with a view to keeping vigil and monitoring human and vehicular movements especially at night in the affected areas, including Chief Aleruchi Street, Rumuobasiorlu Street, Kesiolu Street, Wordu close and others.
The source confided in this medium that some people have started taking the security of the areas mentioned for granted by either refusing to pay up or owing for months. The source stated that with the attitude of the people, it was difficult to pay the salaries of the youths who were engaged to do the security work. He stated further that some of them had threatened to leave the situation job if the fails to improve.
Piqued by the development, some of the elders who commented on the matter unanimously agreed that no landlord and tenants will be allowed to escape payment. They hinged their resolve on the fact that, since the creation of the security measures, there had been little and less incidents of robbery and sundry criminal activities in the area.
On the allegation by a woman who claimed that her provision store was burgled at night, one of the elders, Chief West Anthony stated that as far as he was concerned the shop owner should look inwards based on the report that some boys from the compound harbor young men with questionable characters as friends. He said that the theft, bad as it was , was nothing short of an insider job. He lamented that the security boys, despite putting in their best, there were those who wanted to frustrate their efforts.
“If you watch closely, the security men normally start their operations by 8:pm till 6:am in the morning, those who stole from the shop did not break anywhere to enter. We were told that the gate into the compound where the shop is located was not shut by the residents. The thieves could have entered knowing that the compound was porous. Again, the compound does not have a private security, you cannot expect security watching over a community to now begin to work in a particular compound where they don’t shut their gate.” said Chief West.
But he said that those who carry out sundry criminal activities were not better than the burglars who operate at midnights to maim and rob people of their possessions, warning that anyone caught stealing around will be dealt with and made to face the consequences.
He called on the security committee to continue exploring better strategies for getting security fee from the residents, even as he commended them for the successes recorded so far.
Efforts to approach the shop owner for her comment on the development was turned down by some certain person in the area who said that the matter would be handled diligently.
Another elder, Jaja Kelvin, called on the residents not to leave the job of securing the communities in the hands of security committee and security men only. According to him; people should unite to fight common enemies.
He pleaded with residents not to shy away from the need to use security light to brighten up their compounds. He observed that the presence of bright light will help boost security of the area and push criminal elements away from hiding in the dark to ply their illegal operations.
A closer look at the security arrangements in the areas revealed that places without barricades before now have either gates of iron and iron bars across entrances to strengthen security in the communities.
