From Victor Edozie, Port Harcourt
The Rivers State Police Command has said the Police is stepping up Campaign Against Cultism And Other Vices , POCACOV , to provide a pathway for reformation and rehabilitation of youths involved in social vices such as drug abuse, gangsterism, cultism, cyber crimes and kidnapping.
The Rivers State Commissioner of Police , Olugbenga Adepoju who stated this on Wednesday at the re-launch of POCACOV in Port Harcourt, said the State Police Command will partner with stakeholders to provide rehabilitation, skills acquisition, and psychosocial support to restore dignity and hope for the vulnerable youths.
Adepoju said the State Police Command goal is not to condemn, but to restore the victims saying that the Command under his watch will reintegrate and reformed youths back into families, schools, and society as productive, law-abiding citizens.
He said that the first objective of POCACOV is to prevent crime before it happens adding. that the police will not wait until a young person commits an offense before it act.
He said, “We will go to them first in schools, in communities, and in worship centers.
We are committed to identifying young persons who are prone to social vices those being lured into cultism, drug abuse, gangsterism, and cybercrime. We will reach them, counsel them, and pull them back before these vices metamorphose into high-profile crimes such as armed robbery, kidnapping, and cult-related killings.
“We must educate our youths on the dangers, legal consequences, health implications, and social destruction caused by cultism and other vices. Ignorance is the greatest weapon of the recruiter. Knowledge will be our greatest weapon of defens
“For those already trapped, POCACOV provides a pathway for reformation. We will partner with stakeholders to provide rehabilitation, skills acquisition, and psychosocial support to restore dignity and hope.
“Our goal is not to condemn, but to restore. We will reintegrate reformed youths back into families, schools, and society as productive, law-abiding citizens.
“Ultimately, POCACOV seeks to build a generation that rejects violence and embraces peace. A Rivers State where our children choose classrooms over cult shrines, skills over crime, and the future over destruction.”
He pointed out that the Rivers State Police Command will expand POCACOV clubs in schools, intensify community outreaches. and work with other stakeholders to track, engage, and rescue vulnerable youths.
Earlier in his welcome address , the State Coordinator of POCACOV , ASP Ogwuewe Captain Gabriel said crime affects all aspects of the society and requires all hands on deck to checkmate the social vices that POCACOV was commissioned to tackle.
He said that all stakeholders have areas where they can contribute to redefining the future of the society, either by accompanying the team to schools, community engagement, media campaigns, and so forth. Others can sponsor the campaign to ease the movement of volunteers.
He said the campaign requires continuous printing of materials, for which printing equipment is needed.
“It also requires constant movement from one location to another, hence mobility is strongly needed. The exercise needs a public address system because, in most cases, the crowds are overwhelming. An amplifier system is required, as well as periodic media sensitization, among other needs,” he stated.
He noted that the event is intended to create a robust opportunity for synergy to reduce the prevalence of social vices peculiar to Rivers State.
