By Gift Jonah
CP Mustapha Dandaura
Though incidents of killing of young girls and women have reduced, the search for better protective measures for the female gender continues. From postings on the Social Media , it is obvious that women , especially young girls are still being lured into danger.
It becomes important therefore, to revisit the advice from the Rivers State Police commissioner when women in the state rose up in their number to demand a halt to the killings.
At the Moscow road Police Command Headquarters where about 77 gender based non-governmental organizations, Nigeria Female journalists, female lawyers, doctors, etc, led by Rotary Club, gathered both men and women for a peaceful demonstration to address the issue of serial killing of women and girls in Rivers State mostly in hotels last month, the commissioner of police, Mustapha Dandaura, while addressing the protesters gave a warning to all girls and women not to follow unidentified persons as some of them are cultists and serial killers who go about carrying out their cultist activities.
The CP appealed to the protesters to educate their sisters on which hotel to go, who to follow and how to move about with men explaining that some of the victims could as then, not be identified by the police..
“Those girls that were killed were put on the run by these bad boys and they raped them at the central hotel rooms. Some of them up till now, we cannot trace their whereabouts, where they come from; nothing to identify them that they are from so and so place.
“That is the problem we are facing now; we have the persons in the mortuaries but nobody is coming to claim that yes, this is the sister or they are from so, so place. That is why we are calling on you from this very moment till henceforth, women should be very careful of which hotel to go, who to associate with. These are serial killers, it is not one person”.
The police boss said the killers are cultists and to avoid falling victims, girls should be careful who they hang out with.
“It is a cultist activity and the cultists is not a one person, they have their own group and they have gone round; they have gone to all these low profile hotels. They cannot come to Presidential Hotel; they cannot not go to all these big hotels because they don’t even have the money to book that room so they prefer to go to all these short-time hotels where you can go and book one hour, two hours, three hours and so on.
“ So that is what is happening now, that is why we are talking to you, we are urging you, appealing to you to please educate our sisters, educate them on how to go, how to move about with men. Anybody you don’t know, any man you don’t know, you don’t know his identity, you don’t know where he comes from, you don’t now his working place, please don’t follow him especially in this Rivers State now. That is what is happening, don’t follow that man. That is our message,” CP Mustapha Dandaura cautioned.
Joining in the conversation on safety measures, Mrs. Happiness Agu, an Igbo-Etche resident called on family members to be more informed on the movements of their persons, especially the girls. She also called on all to be observant.
‘‘It is a dis-heartening thing to hear, you know .These young ladies could be our children, they could be going to work. People kept saying they are prostitutes and all, but that is not the case. So, in essence I will like to urge every authority, government to please do something about the whole thing ,that is, the problem going on in Nigeria because it is now getting out of hand.
“My advice to ladies out there, if you are entering a vehicle please be observant; your going out should be known by your guardian when leaving your homes for security sake. Also, I would advise everyone to please watch out for your siblings. To mothers, make sure to keep an eye on your children especially the girl child.
“Be conscious and let your spirit lead you . If you are entering a vehicle and you not comfortable about it, come out and pick another cab. Besides, no one there is paying your transport; a taxi you’re not comfortable with or your instinct is bothering you over, don’t hesitate to leave that area. And please be very observant.
–with input from Chidera Ugonu
