By Godwin Tyonongu
The police community relations committee (PCRC) ‘A’ division, Mararaba, has appealed to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to station an armoured tank in the area due to its volatile nature.
PCRC’s vice-chairman ‘A’ division, Mararaba, Mr. Eze Chikere, who made the appeal during an exclusive interview with our correspondent, said the leadership of the committee had visited the IGP to facilitate with him on his appointment and for him to accept PCRC as one of the instruments he could use to conquer insecurity.
According to him, their major headache in the area was the Okada riders who prefer what he described as “jungle justice” in settling scores with criminals fond of snatching their motorbikes to other means.
He cited an instance where one criminal who was suspected to have snatched motorcycle from an okada was to be set ablaze if not for the intervention of soldiers.
He said: “When the police initially went there to quell the crisis, the okada riders felt the police were not on their side as such they resorted into throwing stones on the police; the police too started shooting tear gas. But when the okada were almost overpowering the police, they had to call the soldiers.
“Most of us closed our slops because the mayhem was escalating to something else.”
In the area of machinery, he said the committee in their capacity liaised with banks, filling stations and some good politicians; hence they were able to purchase computers, generators, machines and vehicles to the division to enhance police performance.
