From Tony John, Port Harcourt
The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre, YEAC-Nigeria, has sensitised students of Government Secondary School, Oyigbo, against forms of organised crime, particularly illegal oil refining activities, commonly known as kpofire, in Rivers State.
According to YEAC-Nigeria, organised crime are a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralised enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activities.
The group said the illegal activities are most commonly for profit, ranging from cultism, examination malpractice, drug abuse, human trafficking, pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft and artisanal refining.
Others include, illegal oil bunkering, kidnapping, banditry, insurgency, racketeering, cybercrime, internet fraud (aka Yahoo-Yahoo), drugs/human trafficking, arms smuggling, sea piracy, unreported and unregulated fishing, fraudulent activities and environmental crime, including illegal logging.
Executive Director of YEAC-Nigeria, Mr Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, during a sensitisation workshop for the secondary school in Oyigbo, warned against involvement in organised crime especially artisanal refineries which are common sight in communities across Rivers State and the Niger Delta region.
According to him, organised crime are continuously maintained through corruption of public officials and the use of intimidation, threats or forces to protect its operations.
With over 500 students sensitised at GSS Oyigbo, he added that YEAC-Nigeria has already sensitised over 10,000 students in Rivers State between 2019 and 2023, while targeting to reach 10 million students across Niger Delta region over time.
Fyneface also showed the students pictorial evidence of those arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for getting involved in drugs and advised the students involved in drugs and cultism to desist forthwith or risk being arrested and prosecuted by the NDLEA and the police.
He said: “By this sensitisation programme, YEAC-Nigeria is warning you all against involvement in organised crime, especially artisanal refineries, which are common sight in communities across Rivers State and the Niger Delta region.
“Illegal refining activities cause environmental pollution and cause explosions that lead to the killing of those involved with a few survivors sustaining lifetime injuries that lead to permanent deformation; while some others are arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned by the NSCDC, turning them into convicts and ex-convicts. And you will be stigmatised against for the rest of your lives making you less useful to society, a situation that is avoidable.”
Fyneface blamed the rising cases of examination malpractice in secondary schools on parenting failure, corrupt educational system, poor students attitude, societal failure, undue emphasis on academic results and certificates acquisition against knowledge, and inadequate preparation by students.
YEAC-Nigeria described examination malpractice as a deliberate wrongdoing contrary to official examination rules designed to place a candidate at an unfair advantage or disadvantage, and warned the students that penalty for examination malpractice under the 1999 Examination Malpractice Act include five years jail term or a fine of N100,000.
“Examination malpractices include dubbing, sorting, giraffing, copying, writing on the body, use of sign language, impersonation, leakage of examination questions, tampering with results, bribery, sex-for-marks, use of mercenaries, computer fraud during computer-based exams, fraudulent practices by invigilators, among others.
“Effects of examination malpractice include, dismissal, termination, loss of position, lack of self-confidence, loss of trust in the educational system, reduced enrolment of students in school, cancellation of results, discourages good students/candidates from studying hard, deprives innocent students’ opportunity for admission, decreases job efficiency, prostitution, stealing and armed robbery.”
On drug and substance abuse, YEAC-Nigeria cautioned the students against involvement in drug abuse by not succumbing to peer pressure or using drugs illicitly, noting that the United Nations has set aside June 16 every year as a special day to raise more awareness on drug abuse.
“Effects of drug abuse on youths can be physical, psychological, and social effects. Drug abuse contributes to academic difficulties, severe health-related problems including increased risk of mental health/disorders, damage to vital organs, poor peer relationships, and involvement with the juvenile justice system, drives poverty to you and even to your family, and makes you unemployable, etc.”
Fyneface said Violent Extremism was the use violence to achieve ideological, religious, political goals or any kind of goal, including terrorism and other forms of politically motivated and communal violence, warning that violent extremism undermines peace and security, human rights and sustainable development.
According to him, there are violent and non-violent extremisms; the former which involves illegal acts of violence, while the latter is oftentimes protected by the right to freedom of speech and civil rights concerns, “thus when you insist on the right thing to be done according to constitutional provisions, it means that you held extreme views about what is right in a non-violent manner.”
To prevent violent extremism, he said, “Education and sensitisation is a powerful tool that builds learners’ resilience to violent extremism and mitigates the drivers of the phenomena. Education and sensitisation helps in strengthening the commitment of youths to non-violence and peace in particular by addressing hateful and violent narratives. It is not enough to counter it: We must prevent it through advocacies like this workshop brought to you by YEAC-Nigeria.”