By Kissinger Ikeokwu
The area housing Imo Police Command and the Owerri Prisons is known as a fortress. It is the 2nd most safe guarded place in Imo State outside Obize 34 Field Artillary Brigade.
What gives it that sense if invincibility is that the Prisons share fence with the State Police Command which houses about 5-6 tactical teams behind it with personnel who keep watch 24 hours guarding their high valued criminal suspects from StateCID, SCIB, Scorpion Squad, Monitoring Unit, Anti-Cult, etc. side their personnel on night shifts they coordinate with their various Patrol Teams who work 12 hours sound the clock and always ready to be called upon and be directed to places of interest.
Next is the Old DSS Headquarters, next is the Shell Camp Police Division and next is the powerful Anti-Kidnapoing Unit. But that is not all the reason the area is dreaded. The Police Barrack houses good number of Senior Police Officers and the Rank and Files in on and off duty. But the biggest is that next is the Government House with it’s retinue of Security for all round protection to the Governor and the Keypoint. But much more is the next Fence Booooom… The Oga kpatakpata of them all… The Residence of the Commander 34 Field Artillary Brigade Obinze always occupied by a Brigadier General. You can then imagine how much officers guard the place. Then few walls the Commissioner of Police Residence.
In the past no one dared mess up in these areas because while attacking one, there is fear the others from the other high valued targets would regroup and launch a deadly cover fire.
So how did these people dare all the consequences to attack these heavily fortified bases without any urgency or surreptitious operation? How come none of the security personnel attached to those other high valued bases not regroup to organise a counter operation?
We may be in for the worst in terms of security as a nation. The way people attack military formations suggest the Nigerian military and security agencies may have lost the fear factor. These happens when citizens has lost patrotism following decades of lack of investment in human resource capital. The situation has degenerated to a state where citizens feel to die is not different from being alive. Citizens embrassing life of jungle as militia away from the comfort of civil living.
We are living in troubling times.
