Group Cautions Wike Over Ill-Treatment Of Ndigbos In Rivers State

Port Activist group ,Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders Importers Exporters Coalition (SNFFIEC), has cautioned the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike over alleged ill treatment meted out to Ndigbo in some parts of the State.

The group expressed worries over the recent actions by Wike against the Igbo in the state, noting the that Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) had worked assiduously for him to emerge as governor thus, most not be treated in such dastardly manner.

National Coordinator of the group, Chief Osita Chukwu Patrick in a chat on Monday , told our correspondent that the proscription of IPOB in the state does not disallow the struggle of the group activities in the country , even as he reminded the governor that the Ndigbo were instrumental in his elections as well as his battle against the former governor and Minister , Rotimi Ameachi.

“IPOB was instrumental to his elections in Rivers State. When he had issues with Ameachi, IPOB was the engine room of that battle to ensure that he takes control of Rivers State but today look at what he is doing.

Osita lamented that militants within the Niger Delta region had done more harms than good in the state when compared to activities of IPOB members adding that the group is innocent against the backdrop of the current situation in the country and Rivers State.

 

Osita who doubles as the Chairman International Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (IFFN) added that: “Wike must be very careful with his statements , because his statement is not going down too well with the Igbos . We are using this medium to caution him.

“Is IPOB the group responsible for oil pipeline vandals or is IPOB creating arson in the state?

“We want him to apply precautionary measures to the kind of statements he makes about IPOB because today is Wike the governor, tomorrow will be another person.

“The way and manners Wike is going about this issue shows that the Igbos are not save in Rivers State. The Igbos are the people that made him what he is today and they do not deserve such treatment in anyway”,he added.

 

Meanwhile the Rivers State Governor, on Tuesday said, two kingpins of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) involved in the killing of six soldiers and four policemen in Oyigbo, have been arrested by security operatives.

He has also maintained that the imposition of curfew in Oyigbo Local Government Area helped to prevent an outbreak of inter-ethnic war between Igbo and Hausa communities in the area.

The Governor stated this when Rotary District 9141 Governor, Mrs Virginia Major led a delegation of Rotarians on a courtesy visit at the Government House, Port Harcourt on Tuesday.

He revealed that security operatives in late hours of yesterday arrested two prominent members of IPOB in Oyigbo.

Governor Wike explained that Rivers State was peaceful during the EndSARS protest, until criminals, under the guise of IPOB attempted to paint the State black by killing ten security agents in Oyigbo.

He noted that while Rivers State has been home to every ethnic and religious groups, some misguided IPOB members, had taken this for granted by unleashing mayhem in Oyigbo and even attempted to cause inter-ethnic war.

“If we did not take the steps we took by imposing curfew in Oyigbo, today, it would have been the Hausa and Igbo that will have been fighting and nobody knows what level it would have taken today” he said.

The Governor said though he has had frosty relationship with Nigerian Army and the Police, he will, however, never tolerate the killing of any solider or police in the State.

“I will not support criminality. I won’t because the soldiers don’t like me, then you go and kill them. And then, I will come out and clap, thank you for killing the soldiers. Thank you for killing the police” he said.

He urged those spreading falsehood that Igbo people are being killed and punished in Oyigbo to be dispassionate when acts of criminality are committed. According to him, if IPOB members did not kill people and destroyed properties, Government will have had any justification to declare curfew in the council.

“No government will wake up in the morning to impose hardship on its people. No government will do that, but government has the right to protect life” he said.

Governor Wike lauded Rotary International for collaborating with government to Kick out polio in Nigeria. He assured the Rotarians that his administration will sustain the campaign against polio because no governor will be happy to hear about fresh outbreak of polio in any part of the country.

District 9141 Governor, Virginia Major, lauded Governor Wike for the manner he handled the well intentioned EndSARS protect, which was almost hijacked by miscreants.

She noted that while the world was facing COVID-19 pandemic of unimaginable proportions, Governor Wike and his colleagues and the Federal Government did not relent in their collective efforts to support polio immunisation at all levels.

“This led to the ultimate certification of Nigeria and by extension, Africa as free of the wild polio virus on August 2,2020 by the World Health Organisation, WHO” she said.

He urged the Governor to use his position to support all the renewed efforts of Government, Rotary and all its strategic partners in their quest for sustained surveillance, awareness, immunisation and of course, keeping polio at zero.

 

By Roland Ekama