BY UCHE CHUKWU
The Inspector-general of Police (IGP) has endorsed the nationwide advocacy campaigns of the Police Campaign Against Cultism, cyber crimes, drug abuse and Other Vices (POCACOV) to deepen community policing.
The nationwide campaign which started in Enugu State berthed in Anambra State in continuation of non-kinetic engagement by police with members of the public to prevent numerous crimes and criminalities across the federation .
The POCACOV Team led by the National Coordinator, SP Orvenonne Ikwen, accompanied by other National team members including Mr Collins Iwuobi and, Mr Akindele Adegebo, as well as other stakeholders including the pioneer State Coordinator, Hon. Donatus Orjiakor; new State Coordinator, ASP Francisca Egbunike; Women Leader, Florence Mmaka; acting State Secretary, Dr. Eugene Okoli; member of State Working Committee, Comrade John Mary Ibeka, counselling expert, Dr. Godsent Ufondu; etc
The Advocacy Campaign, according to the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Tochukwu Ikenga who led the advocacy visits noted that the enlistment of the monarchs, including Igwe Ilouno of Ifitedunu and President-general of Anambra State Town Union Council (ASTUC), Comrade Ken Okoli and Coordinators of POCACOV in the 21 local government areas was intentional and borne out of their strongholds to influence their subjects and lieutenants across the 179 communities in the State to spread the message.
Speaking during the State advocacy courtesy calls, the Inspector-general of Police (IGP), Olatunji Disu observed that the campaign is aimed at nipping crimes in the bud before they are rooted in the minds of the young ones and require combative measures.
Tracing the birth of POCACOV in August 2019, he echoed the motto of the body, "It's All About You, " hinting: "We should remind ourselves that security is everybody's concern in all domains.
Disu stressed that the partnership with ambassadors and volunteers is part of the arrangements to encourage members of the public to join the police in the fight against crimes for for a safe and secure community.
IGP Disu who spoke through SP Ikwen during the visits to the AIG Zone 13 Ukpo, Secretary to the State Government (SSG, Her Honour, Chiamaka Nnake and State Traditional Rulers' Council-led Chairman, Igwe Iweka of Obosi said the police are passionate in driving advocacy campaigns for the fight against cultism, violence, drug abuse and other vices.
According to him, POCACOV is made up of the police and patriotic members of the public who serve as ambassadors and volunteers to support and partner with the police to achieve a crime-free society.
Welcoming the POCACOV Team, the Secretary to the State Government, Nnake observed that the initiative resonates with the Stare government's Pillars 1 and 4 bordering on provision of Security and Value Reformation as well as "Soludozie Anambra" Programme of the Professor Chukwuma Soludo administration aimed at supporting the rebuilding of the State.
Nnake noted that the POCACOV is part of the State Government's ongoing values reformation which she admitted is already working, expressing the hope of government teaming up with an already existing body like POCACOV to leverage and enhance on security and safety programmes to make the communities liveable and prosperous State..
Contributing while hosting the team, the new AIG Dantawaye recalled that he was abreast of the programme of POCACOV as both the Commissioner of Police in Kogi State and Federal Capital Territory, Abuja where he met the National Coordinator, SP Ikwen who he described as "the face of IGP in the advocacy campaign drive of community policing through POCACOV.
Dantawaye warned against bad elements in the society who wear mask and join POCACOV as a shield to perpetrate and encourage acts of crimes, appealing to the leadership to be more meticulous in the recruitment of members as the police would deal with such persons with negative mindset, if found, in accordance with the extant law.
He wondered the type of children the society is breeding in the nearest future when they become untamed adults given the increasing rate of child-cultists in the primary schools. The AIG revealed that he wound prioritize the fight against cultism and sell the idea of advocacy campaigns of POCACOV to all the Commissioners of Police in his Zone. He pointed out that the existence of POCACOV sends the message that "everything about security doesn't start and end with the police," adding that the partnership of police with the ambassadors/ volunteers is a welcome development. Receiving the team Igwe Iweka who has the traditional ruler of Idemili North Local Government Area of the State said he doesn't belong to any cult, but considered himself as consultant on anti-cultism, a position he has leveraged upon to drastically secure the denouncement of cult membership and reduction in their number in his domain. The feat.he recalled was reason for establishment of first cult branch in Obosi with four police divisions in the wake of killing of 15 cultists, flourishing hard drugs business and advanced free fraud . Enugwu-ukwu was named the headquarters in the State. While decrying worsening scenario where cultism has worsened and moved from tertiary institutions and post-secondary schools to primary schools, Igwe Iweka felt fulfilled at one time when he founded the Movement Against Cultism in Obosi, resulting in no fewer than 500 cultists in the community denouncing cult membership. The ASTRC leader lamented the situation where most older cultists in the 30s and 40s who are out of school now has made cultism spread to their communities, to the point that "everybody is at risk of falling victim in an event of cult war. Igwe Iweka recounted a sad chapter of his life when his refusal of the request to become the grand leader of a certain cult group ended up in another cult fight to terminate the lives of those who visited and made the bargain. Igwe Iweka said: "Cultism is a deadly, once you get in, you can't get out" adding mugus (innocent ones) usually fall victims because the "Capos" and other deadly ones already know and leave their known locations whenever there is looming cult war.. To Igwe Ilouno, parents, school administrators. church leaders, traditional rulers town union executives, civil society organizations, occupational and professional bodies have critical roles to play to prevent and/or combat crimes and criminalities through the POCACOV initiative. Ilouno who is the traditional focal person and Igwe of Ifitedunu, Igwe Ilouno observed that the police are saddled with crime prevention and comba responsibilities, but are overwhelmed by their enormity, hence the birth and mission of POCACOV to involve ambassadors and volunteers from the civilian populace to assist in community policing. In his remark, the President-general of ASTUC (Youth Wing), Comrade Ken Okoli observed that POCACOV is a wake up call, for an integrated, grassrokts approach to tackling crimes, hinting that the existence in 179 communities, each of which has a youth leader provides a veritable platform to sensitize, mobilize and galvanize the communities to actualize the mission of the POCACOV.. Okoli asserted that young ones are held accountable for about 95 percent of crimes committed in the locality, stressing that ASTUC with its community-based presence and liaison with traditional rulers and community leaders would effectively help to drive the mission of POCACOV in families, schools, churches, markets, communities, media, professions/and occupations . According to him, POCACOV is an alternative to joining cultism, noting that Anambra would show other states how the police-civilian campaign should work and become a success story to prove that its slogan as the Light of the Nation is no fluke. Contributing, the Women Leader of POCACOC, Florence Mmaka decried the insinuation that women should bear the brunt wherever their children are found wanting, revealing that the advocacy campaign for a better citizenship would cover the parents, guardians and their children/wards. Mmaka further hinted that the group has mapped out itinerary of programme aimed at visiting women in their various communities and church groups during the forthcoming "August Meetings" to task them on the need to pay more active role in the upbringing of their children and wards as good citizens rather than unwanted members of the society. Earlier in her remarks, the Stare Coordinator of POCACOV, ASP Francisca Egbunike revealed that the IGP has seen that the war against various forms of crime and criminality mustn't be fought and won by police alone but with partnership, hence the involvement of the civilian populace as ambassadors and volunteers to join in identifying the root causes of crime and nip the in the bud. ASP Egbunike observed that most crimes like cultism, drug abuse, and other vices are committed by young persons due to peer age influence and ignorance of dangers of involving in them, stressing the plan of the group to establish POCACOV Clubs in schools to catch them young and inculcate the spirit of societal values in order to live with it into adulthood as good and law abiding citizens. .