From Tony John, Port Harcourt
Etche Local Government Area (LGA) leaders met on Wednesday with Rivers State officials, highlighting rampant herdsmen attacks, land grabbing, and collapsing healthcare and education systems.
The high-level stakeholder engagement, held in Etche, was part of Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd)’s state-wide tour, with Commissioner of Police Olugbenga Adepoju representing the Sole Administrator. Adepoju assured residents, “We are not just here to listen, we are here to act.”
Etche LGA Administrator Onyenachi Nwankwor reported armed herders extorting locals and threatening lives, while Ogbakor Etche President-General Silas Anyanwu recounted, “An Apara farmer was assaulted simply for refusing to pay N6,000 demanded by herders to access his own farmland.”
Chief Joseph Amaechi criticised Miyetti Allah’s absence from security forums, calling it “a deliberate act of disrespect.” Residents noted only one functioning hospital remains, with Okehi General Hospital and Umuede Health Centre closed, and schools lack teachers and materials.
A National Youth Council representative warned, “If the government does not intervene, the youth will resort to self-help.” Leaders urged reviving the Delta Rubber Company to curb unemployment and drug abuse. Adepoju pledged increased security deployments, engagement with Miyetti Allah, rehabilitation of Okehi General Hospital and schools, youth empowerment, and investor dialogue to restart the Delta Rubber Company.
“The government hears you loud and clear,” he affirmed. Nwankwor added, “We know the criminals; they are our children. But, without jobs, healthcare and education, we are pushing them into crime.”