Ataba Community in Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State has declared that it will no longer tolerate acts of criminality in and around its environs.

Okaan-Ama of Ataba Kingdom, His Royal Highness, Oboon Dr. Benson Egwenre, Uruk XVII, made this declaration in a chat with newsmen while handing over suspected hoodlums apprehended by youths of the community to the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in Ataba, recently.   

According to the revered King, angry youths of the area, who were fed up with the activities of the hoodlums who have been terrorizing the community, swooped on them and rounded them up when they came out from their hideout to attack a team of experts who were in the community to execute some developmental projects.

King Egwenre said that the harassment of indigenes and residents of the area, armed robbery and other criminal activities by the group had been on for a long time, noting that this was due to the inability of the community to fund the deployment of security operatives in Ataba.

The Ataba Monarch appealed to the Rivers State Government and the various security agencies to deploy troops to Ataba to forestall any reprisal attacks by the gang whose members have been arrested. The Rivers State Police Command was yet to confirm the incident as efforts to reach him proved abortive.