Soldiers shut controversial Rivers Neighborhood Watch camp 

Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt

The Joint Military Task Force on Thursday stormed the training camp of about 3,000 new recruits of controversial Rivers State Neighborhood and Safety Watch of state government tagging it illegal militias in a training at Nonwa, Tai LGA of Rivers State.

Eyewitness account said the soldiers who drove into the camp, which is also used as the National Youth Service Corps,NYSC, were firm but polite asking the trainees to vacate the camp immediately.

It will recalled that the controversial Civilian outfit though backed by the Rivers State House of Assembly has been a subject of litigations at Court, debates, accusations and counter accusations between the members of the two major political parties, of the All Progressives Congress,APC and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the State.

Reacting to the sacking of the trainees at Nonwa today, Mr Chizi Anyi, a Lawyer and chieftain of the APC and one of the litigants who had dragged the state government to court challenging the setting up of the out said “it is contemptuous for the state government to go ahead with the recruitment and training of the controversial outfit even when the case challenging it existence and legality is still in court. The government should have waited for the court’s decision before going. I thank the security agencies for doing what is needful.”, Chizi Anyi said.

Recall that a similar effort by the Cross River State Government under Prof. Ben Ayade, known as Green Police was also disbanded by the Inspector General of Police.

Our Correspondent recalls that the Rivers Neighbourhood Watch had applied to the Independent National Electroral Commission,INEC, to be accredited to be part of security outfits to monitor future elections in state but was turned down because the INEC in the state said it lacked powers to grant that request and referred the management of the outfit to INEC headquarters.

Our Correspondent in Port Harcourt called Colonel Aminu Illyasu,Spokesman for 6 Division of the Nigerian Army for the official reaction of the Army and he said: “We will come out with an official state”.