By Egufe Yafugborhi

PORT HARCOURT – NEW Chairman of Andoni Local Government Area (LGA), Rivers state, Erastus Awortu, has chided over 5000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the locality for partly encouraging the gangs violence that has rendered them homeless since April this year.

Awortu spilled the perceived ‘bitter truth’ during a visit to deliver relief materials and hope of safe return home for the Andoni IDPs currently camped at Kaa, a neighboring community in Khana LGA.

The IDPs who have been in the camp for over two months lamented colossal loss of properties and lives to the cult war that escalated and sacked over 5,000 persons from 14 Andoni communities.

The LG boss told them, “Don’t cooperate with criminals, don’t show sympathy for them irrespective of the who is involved. No doubt, you have all had very bitter experiences.

“But when in the past you where acting as informants to cultists, making the area difficult for effective policing, and thwarting security operatives efforts at effectively intercepting the criminals, you thought you were doing them good.

“Today the full weight of your actions have visited you and sacked you all from your ancestral homes, which is indeed a very sad narrative.”

In a pledge to remedy the situation, Awortu said, “This plight of our people is worrisome. Here there are no makeshift tents for displaced persons, children out of school for more than two months now and the huger is ravaging.

“I will ensure this untold hardship does not continue under my watch, but we all have a roll to play. We must cooperate with the security agencies, furnish them with all the information they need to effectively carry out their duties.

“My phone is open to complaints, the security agencies ready to respond to all distressed calls from Andoni with a view to completely rid that area of criminal elements”

Thomas Bariere, Chairman Khani LGA, host to the Kaa IDPs Camp assured on providing more necessary support to his Andoni counterpart in the his quest for lasting peace in the area.