by crossriverwatch admin
A group, Conference of Cross River Professionals has called on the Cross River State Government to rehabilitate or return the street urchins who populate the streets of Calabar to their roots in the interest of security of the state.
Mr Effiong Nyong, the leader of the group and a practicing journalist said Wednesday in Calabar that boys and girls roaming the streets are potential recruits for the Boko Haram gang and thus a potential threat to the serenity and security of Cross River State.
“Those boys and girls roaming the streets are a threat to the security of Cross River State because anybody can hand them anything to place anywhere and they just go ahead and do it; government should either rehabilitate them or return them to the roots before they cause any harm in the state”
Mr. Nyong called on the government to look inwards when planning to engage people for an activity to make professionals of the state relevant in the affairs of the state. “Very soon the state will host the National Sports Festival and the face promoting that festival is Mary Onyali when we have past and present outstanding sports professionals who can effectively give the state the needed publicity and mileage”.
According to him it should be only in instances where the State does not have someone that can be engaged that people outside can be used. “As done elsewhere, it is when people like Mercy Nku do not exist in state that the face of another person outside the state can be used to publicize an event like National Sports Festival”.
Mr. Nyong stated that the group has no political bias and is planning a summit for the 14th of August where resource persons will speak to highlight the benefits accruable to the state when its people are patronized in the execution of contracts, social and economic activities”
Another member of the group and a retired Director with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Mr. Tony Ray decried the high rate of illicit drug consumption in the state which is responsible for the malaise in the society.
He stressed that if the consumption of hard drugs like cocaine and marijuana is not curtailed soon, young men addicted to hard drugs would soon begin to inflict harm on innocent citizens without having a second thought.
He called on the Cross River State House Of Assembly to rise up to the challenge so as to “nib this thing at the bud” adding that unless the relevant agencies in the State decide to rise up to their challenge such matters may go out of hand.
He maintained that drugs peddling/ consumption has reached an escalating rate particularly in Akpabuyo Local Government Area of the state and urged agents of government to do everything within their reach to ensure that these drug cartels were broken down so as to restore the sanity that Akpabuyo was once noted for.
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