Men and women, old and young walk down the streets of Port Harcourt with hands raised up in a sign of surrender. As evening approaches all scurried home either to beat the dusk to dawn curfew or to avoid being caught in a crossfire of the three way gun battles between the different cult/militia groups and law enforcement agencies.
Hostage taking, high profile kidnapping and dare devil armed robberies were the order of the day. Criminals superintend over communal and social activities. Citizens were forced to obtain permits and seek protection from militia leaders to carry out social activities such as burial ceremonies, weddings etc. The cities and urban centres were carved out into territories presided over by different militias or cult groups. The movements of people were determined by which territory they belong, whilst innocent people who do not recognise the territorial divide often got caught up in the territorial war. Commanders of militias were a quasi Government in local areas doubling as an alternate Government in the city, sometimes imposing day or night curfews on parts of the state as it pleases them.
Law enforcement agencies especially the Police were helpless as they were ill equipped to combat the rampaging militants who on several occasions before Amaechi’s assumption of office sacked Police divisions in old Port Harcourt Township, Mini Okoro, Amadi Ama, Okuru, Abuloma and the areas around the numerous waterfront enclaves. Faced with this situation the previous Government went into several mini deals with the militant groups, often paying handsome rewards for the release of kidnapped victims and sometimes to buy temporary peace.
Upon assumption of office, Amaechi was determined to stem this tide. He would neither condone the lawlessness nor dine with the devil. He stated emphatically that he would respect the Nigerian constitution which defined the primary responsibility of Government as ‘the protection of lives and property’.
At one of his earliest Security Council meetings, he proposed the lifting of the six months old dusk to dawn curfew which was imposed on the State Capital as a result of the activities of Niger delta Insurgents. He believed that the curfew should be relaxed to allow residents of the state celebrate the 2007 yuletide as well as to encourage the return of businesses which had relocated to neighbouring States due to insecurity. At this meeting some of the Service commanders opposed his proposal pointing out that it was too risky and that Amaechi should accept the blame if anything goes wrong. Shortly after the curfew was relaxed he made a few unannounced visits to a few night clubs that had reopened so as to assure residents that the state was indeed safe and that night life was returning.
The primary function of Government as stated in the Nigeria constitution is the protection of lives and property. This legally enshrined function was the major driver of the aspiration of the Government of Rivers State to restore law and order and provide an enabling environment for businesses to thrive and for individuals and organisations to be able to pursue legitimate business without fear or hindrances.
Security Strategy
In his desire to find an enduring solution to the security challenges, a four pronged strategy was adopted by the State. These were:
• Enforcement of criminal law
• Building capacity of the Police and other security Agencies
• Enhancing inter-agency collaboration
• Involvement of the Citizenry
Enforcement of Criminal law
The four years preceding Amaechi’s assumption of office was characterised by security challenges which emanated from failure of the Police to enforce the law. To buttress this, In an interview granted in 2004, the leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Melford Goodhead, a.k,a. Mujahid Asari Dokubo stated that he took up arms because the Police and other law enforcement agencies went to sleep whilst the Icelanders cult group ran riot, killing and maiming people all over Rivers State. His 2004 war was tagged ‘war of liberation’ to liberate the State from the excesses of a fellow militia leader, Tom Ateke. Whilst not justifying Mr. Dokubo’s actions, he was indeed right that between 2002 and 2007 the Police exhibited double standard in the enforcement of criminal laws. There were reports that as the war between the two militia leaders raged, some senior Police Officers were collaborating with the two in the booming business of oil theft. The consequence of this malaise was the loss of hundreds of valuable human lives, capital flight and disruption of economic activities. Despite the Amnesty instituted by President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Rivers State crisis eventually gave birth to the wider Niger Delta crisis.
With the benefit of this knowledge Amaechi desired that there should be no sacred cows and that all crimes should be investigated by the Police and pursued to a logical conclusion. This principle was the basis for Amaechi’s opposition to the amnesty programme initiated by President Yar Adua. To him granting amnesty to a group of people who took up arms against the state and in the process committing heinous crimes ranging from armed robbery, oil theft, kidnapping, murder to terrorism, would lower moral standard and create a new threshold for acceptable criminal behaviour. It was for this same reason that Amaechi refused to embrace or celebrate ex Niger Delta militants after the Amnesty program unlike neighbouring States where they were treated as heroes and role models. His hard line posture has been vindicated with later developments in other parts of the country.
Building Capacity of the Police and other Law Enforcement Agencies
At the beginning of 2008, the new Government of the State decided to explore ways of using Information Technology to aid security agencies in the restoration of public safety and law and order, because as it were, the insurgent groups were masters of the terrain and operated with impunity.
Consequently, a Tel Aviv, Israel based company, MPD systems was engaged as consultants to design, build and operate an Information Technology Infrastructure that will support the security agencies comprising the Military, Police and the local Counter Intelligence Agency to restore law and order. Between March 2008 and January 2009, MPD System in collaboration with Israeli based Information Technology hard ware and software providers such as Tadiran Communications, Elbit Sytems and the Israeli Military Industries built a robust IT based infrastructure comprising Aerostats, a Ground Control Station (GTS), a Ground Data Terminal (GTS), Urban surveillance cameras, Electronic tracking System, Access control system and a tactical communication platform.
The ground control station also known as ‘Command, Communications, computers control and Intelligence centre (C4i)’ revolutionalized the concept of public security in Nigeria and can be described as Amaechi’s greatest contribution to internal security. For instance the existence of an authentic crime data repository, where profiling records are stored and could be retrieved instantly has revolutionised the art of managing public safety and security. Before 2008, militias roamed about the state incognito creating an aura of invincibility which they employed to instil fear in the populace.
However, when the C4i became operational the activities of such groups became increasingly open because IT changed the amount and type of information available to law enforcement agents. More accurate information derived from surveillance cameras, data mining and profiling, information about the capability of these groups, their membership, spread, strength, modus operandi and support base became available and was disseminated to appropriate agencies for swift and coordinated counter measures.
In the course of a 2009 interview granted by the Governor of Rivers State to an internal journal of the Nigeria Police, Governor Amaechi identified the objectives of his investments as follows:
1. To employ Information Technology for urban surveillance, crime detection and prevention with a view to making our streets and highways a safer place
2. To use Information Technology for data mining, profiling as well as interpretation and management of Intelligence
3. To improve the speed of information flow between field operatives and command and control centre, enhance decision making and quicken response to incidents
4. Enhance unity of command among the different security agencies and facilitate information sharing
5. To Integrate the disparage information technology infrastructures of the respective agencies for effective command and control, and using the synergy there from for enhancement of public safety and security.
In addition, Amaechi embarked on a wholesome capacity building for the Rivers State command of the Nigeria Police. His desire was for a disciplined, well trained and highly motivated force.
Given the poor funding of the Police by the Federal Government, he set out to create an elite force out of the command. The state reached an agreement with a Tel Aviv, Israel based security firm for the establishment of a Counter terrorism training centre at the Police College, in Nonwa, Rivers State, provision of training and doctrinal support for the Police, deployment of information technology for intelligence procurement and operational efficiency, as well as purchase and deployment patrol vans and armoured personnel carriers. In 2011, following the upsurge of terrorism in other parts of the country, the intervention was expanded to include the procurement, training and deployment of sniffer dogs, backscatter surveillance vehicles amongst other capabilities designed to raise the ability of the Police to combat threats of terrorism. Other logistic supports included armoured gun boats, monthly supply of diesel, petrol and Jet A4, armoured vests etc. On the softer side, the state introduced the payment of daily allowances to officers and men of the security forces to supplement their monthly salaries, rewards for gallant personnel, payment of compensation to families of those whose lives were lost in the course of duty, amongst other initiatives geared towards motivating law enforcement personnel to becoming more committed to their duties.. Similar assistance was rendered to the Military and other law enforcement agencies.
The focus on training produced the first set of Israeli-trained operatives for the police Counter terrorism squad. Additional training at the Nonwa Police college by trainers from the Israel Military Academy produced a core of highly trained operatives who accounted for the successes of the Police Command. The impact of these corps of thirty officers led by CSP Emma Ardo can best be appreciated by an account of what transpired on the first day of training in Israel. At the commencement of training, each of the thirty trainees were handed one hundred rounds of ammunition and asked to fire at stationary targets. After expending the rounds none of the trainees hit the bull and less than ten percent of the rounds hit any part of the target. When asked what happened, one of them joked that perhaps the paper targets were laced with ‘egbesu’. This is because of the general belief in the Niger Delta (then) that Police bullets could not penetrate the bodies of militants because of ‘egbesu’. After one month of training, the marksmanship of the policemen improved so much that they all discarded there belief in the prowess of egbesu.
Upon returning to Nigeria armed with their training and new found confidence, the gallantry of these officers helped to eliminate the erroneous impression that the bodies of the militants were bullet proof. We later discovered that the problem faced by Policemen in confronting criminals was a result of the deficiencies in their training.
Inter-Agency Collaboration
One of the hallmarks of security in Rivers state before Amaechi assumed office was the mutual suspicion between the law enforcement agencies on account of the perceived collusion between elements in the Police and some of the criminal elements that were tormenting the State. As a result of this suspicion exchange of intelligence and operational collaboration between the armed forces, the intelligence agencies and the Police was at a minimum.
Through his informal style of leadership and the establishment of the C4i, Amaechi encouraged more formal and informal interaction and collaboration between the Service commanders. Joint patrols and joint operations funded by the State Government brought successes which enhanced trust and brought about more collaboration. The camaraderie-ship between the agencies was sustained in the state until February 2013 when the political difference between the State and the Federal Government introduced a new dynamism between the governor and some of the service Commanders. As the position of the Governor as Chief security Officer of the State was undermined, the concept of ‘espirit de corps’ between the services suffered.
Involvement of the Citizenry
Given the experience of the past, the Amaechi security think-tank felt that there was need to involve the citizenry in enhancing and sustaining security. In the first instance, there was need for free flow of intelligence from members of the public either through conventional means or otherwise. Secondly there was need to involve communities in preventing security challenges through communal enforcement. It was for these reasons that the State Government in collaboration with the Police invested in establishment of a core of civilians in community policing. The job of the community police was to obtain information and pass to the police as well as support them in detection and prevention of crime.
Successes at neutralising some of the activities of criminal groups using IT, encouraged ordinary citizens to volunteer information to the law enforcement agencies using the confidentiality provided by the new IT platforms. The result was an improved intelligence resource and better communal and citizens involvement in policing. The benefits of this collaboration between the ordinary residents of the State and the law enforcement agencies are still being exploited for enhancement of the security well being of the State.
Security Helicopters
At the height of the Niger Delta crisis, it was observed that the ability of security agencies to monitor oil infrastructure was limited as most of these critical infrastructure when in creeks and far distances which challenged existing security capability. It was thought that to put a lasting stop to the crisis in the Niger Delta, there was need to curtail oil theft which was perceived as the major source of funding of the crisis. It was for this reason that Amaechi and the Service Commanders examined available options. The initial thought was to procure Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), but given observed operational deficiencies of UAV’s inherited from the Presidential Committee on Maritime Safety and Security (PICCOMS), the idea was discarded. Upon further advice, the security team settled on the purchase of two bell 412 4-axis helicopters. The choice of this equipment over other options such as a turbo-prop aircraft, a blimp and UAV was the lower cost of operation and adaptability. Unlike the Aircraft and UAV that require an airfield to operate, the helicopter can fly below the clouds and take-off or land at any open field. Besides they can be used for troop deployment to remote areas either during crisis or routine operations.
Given the national security implication of such investment and its capital outlay Amaechi in 2011 sought and got approval from the Federal Government and through the office of National Security Adviser received over 50% of its cost. These helicopters were completed in October 2012, but unfortunately due to political developments have been abandoned at the Bell helicopter facility in Tennessee USA, because the Federal Ministry of Aviation which should give approval for importation of these helicopters has refused to grant the application. As the helicopters rot away, the manufacturers are busy laughing at the folly of Nigerian, because it’s only Nigeria that could allow an investment (of almost thirty million US), made in public interest to go to waste.
Security and the 2013 Political Crisis
One of the contradictions of Nigeria’s 1999 constitution is the place of Governors as Chief Security Officers (CSO) of States. By definition, the CSO should be in a position to give directive to the heads of the Security Services, or how else can they be Chiefs of Security if such condition precedent is lacking? This contradiction was played out between February 2013 and February 2014 when the political disagreement between the Amaechi led Rivers State Government and the Federal Government was fought on all fronts. At some points during the crisis, ex-warlords and known criminals who had fled the state due to Amaechi’s insistence on enforcement of laws, were encouraged to return and indeed embraced not only by those fighting the Governor but by the Police.
The one year reign of Commissioner of Police Mbu was a period of anomie, characterised by an overt display of unprofessionalism, partisanship and disrespect for the office and person of the Governor. Mbu’s recklessness destabilised the security equilibrium in the State such that the efficiency and psyche of the average Police Officer in the State were undermined. The outcome was a resurgence of kidnapping, armed robbery, inter cult conflicts and other violent crimes. Commissioner of Police Mbu abetted criminal activities and took official dalliance with criminal elements to an unprecedented height in his bid to undermine the State. That Mbu was allowed to remain in the State and even celebrated by a section of the political class even when his actions clearly threatened Nigeria’s democracy is an indication that democracy credential of our political leaders is suspect.
