15/02/2026
SECURITY AND PUBLIC SAFETY IN RIVERS STATE
I commend the government and security agencies for their ongoing efforts to improve security and ensure public safety in Rivers State. However, more decisive action is required to strengthen street safety and effectively combat insecurity across the state.
Rivers State cannot afford to ignore the broader national security landscape and how it affects it as a part of the system of the federating States. As part of the Nigerian federation, it also shares in the security challenges affecting other regions, where national and international forces are currently engaged in operations against banditry, Boko Haram insurgency, and other threats. It is a known fact that many of those fleeing these conflict zones are relocating to other states, including Rivers, using it as a safe haven.
Upon arrival, many of these individuals are not engaged in any formal or documented employment. Instead, they operate in the informal sector, taking up menial jobs and, in some cases, turning to street robbery, kidnapping, and other criminal activities for survival. They are often supported by local collaborators who facilitate their integration into existing criminal networks.
These individuals typically disguise themselves through occupations such as scrap collection, wheelbarrow and truck pushing in markets, construction labourers, street trading, cattle rearing, and slaughtering among others. While appearing legitimate, many use these roles as cover ups for criminal activities, often also carried out at night. Many of them are armed with dangerous small arms and light weapons, prepared to unleash terror at the slightest provocation and defend themselves with the weapons and kill people.
They also form and join organized criminal cells, gangs, and cult groups, enabling them to coordinate crimes and offer mutual protection when threatened.
Rivers State, like other relatively peaceful states, must recognize that it is becoming a destination for displaced criminal elements from the front-lines in the northern parts of the country. Government authorities must therefore work closely with civil society organizations and local security structures, including youth groups, vigilante outfits, market unions and associations, community based organizations and even non-government organizations to identify new faces, monitor suspicious activity, receive timely reports and take proactive steps through the police and other security formations to safeguard communities, ensure public security and safety.
It is on record that numerous street killings have occurred in Rivers State, many of which remain unresolved, with no arrests or prosecutions. Notable examples include herder-related violence and killings in parts of the state over the years, the killing at the Obio/Akpor International Market where a Northerner dagger someone to dead, and the recent February 14, 2026, incident at Oil Mill Market in Port Harcourt where another Northerner allegedly dagger a Benue man to death. These cases highlight the urgent need for action for public security and safety in the State before it escalates further after a woman also recently escaped killing at the Eze Gbakagbaka Market at Trans-Amadi Slaughter area for alleged blasphemy and we don't know the next place of the next killing in Rivers State.
Disturbingly, reports received by the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria), through its One Million Youth Volunteers Network of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters in the Niger Delta, over time suggested and alleged that some perpetrators of these crimes appear to enjoy protection from certain security personnel, particularly within the police force. The allegations which could not be independently verified by the Advocacy Centre further suggested and included police inaction when matters like these are reported, interference from influential individuals when and if any arrest happens, and the release of suspects without trial. This perceived impunity emboldens the criminal elements to commit more crimes as they're sure of going away with it and it undermines public trust in law enforcement.
To prevent further escalation, the Rivers State government must act swiftly to enforce existing laws, including the Anti-Open Grazing Law and the Street Trading (Prohibition) Law. It should also regulate or ban unregistered waste, scrap and metal picking, as many involved in this trade are linked to theft, vandalism, and even espionage for nighttime robbery operations.
There is also the need, within extant legal frameworks for the State to direct market leaderships to document and register anyone that expresses interest to sell or work in any places using federal government issued means of identification with at least two guarantors because if an individual is aware of his proper documentation for business activities in a particular market or place, he or she will behave and carryout his lawful activities within the ambit of the law and report cases of grievances to seek redress without resorting to selfhelp and killing instantaneously.
A stitch in time saves nine for the public safety, peace and security of our communities, marketplaces and public places in the State.
Dr. Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface,
Executive Director, YEAC-Nigeria.
15-02-2026.
