Violence: Wike calls for arrest of APC members in viral video

Wednesday, June 24, 2020 12:31 am

Governor Nyesom Wike

…I will never defend or support Rivers person who engage in violence because of crisis in APC–Amaechi

Okafor Ofiebor/ Port Harcourt

The NyesomWike administration in Rivers Government has called on the Inspector General of Police to bring to book those threatening the peace of the state claiming to be supporters former Governor of Rivers State and Transportation Minister, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, in a viral video because of the crisis in the All Progressives Congress, APC.

In a statement on Tuesday evening, Paulinus Nsirim, Rivers Commissioner for Information and Communications alleged that those in the viral video are a group of APC supporters as they did not disguise their rabid loyalty and sycophancy to Amaechi.

The State Government said while it takes very strong exception to the provocative and incendiary language used by the leader of the group, where he threatened the peace of the state and invoked fire, brimstone, death and destruction on Rivers State and the residents should any unfavorable judgment and action befall their leader and master, Rotimi Amaechi in the current crises rocking the Rivers APC.

” Rivers State Government is fully ready and unflinchingly determined to bring the full weight of the law to bear on anybody who threatens, either by unguarded pronouncements or irresponsible provocative action, to breach the hard earned peace and security which Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has worked so hard to entrench and sustain in the state.

“State Government warns those purveyors of misleading and wild narrative, that Governor Wike, is neither involved in the crisis rocking the fractured APC in Rivers State, nor has any interest in the emergence or determination of the leadership of the party whatsoever.

“We need not remind the Rivers APC that Governor Wike and the PDP defeated them fairly and squarely at all levels in the last elections and so has no overiding need to dabble into the affairs of a political party that has continued to manifest the shameful picture of one week one trouble and whose leaders have continued to stumble into and drag the party from one crisis to another like a flock of sheep without any recognized shepherd.

“We also take great exception to the wild and dangerous threats and intimidation made against the Judiciary in Rivers State, in utterances that can best be described as grossly inciting, offensive, and derogatory and treasonable.

“The state Government recalled similar situations in the not too distant past when the state had witnessed a total shutdown of the Judicial Arm in the state and the courts were held “Under Siege”, by supporters of a political party who brazenly locked out and deliberately quarantined Lawyers, Magistrates, Judges and the entire judicial staff of the court premises for several months.

It was Governor Nyesom Wike, who liberated the Judiciary from its forced bondage, gave judicial officers a new lease of life and allowed the courts to breathe again when he became Governor in 2015.

“The Rivers State Government hereby warns that it will come down hard on any trouble maker, who desires to forment trouble in the state.

“We want to use this opportunity to put the Inspector General of Police and all the security agencies on notice to live up to their responsibilities by taking prompt action on what is obviously a clear case of treason by a group whose leader is well known in the country.

“Rivers State is in danger and the lives of Rivers people have been threatened. Rivers lives matter and no group or individual will be allowed to threaten Rivers State or Rivers people.

“We want to remind security agencies that a war dance video which went viral before the 2019 general elections must have emboldened those that masterminded the death of innocent citizens in Abonnema, Bori and Oyigbo areas of the State during the said elections.

“That is why this particular video should not be treated with kid gloves but given the security attention it deserves and the masterminds brought to book.

“Those who want to die will die alone. A word is enough for the wise.

In a swift reaction, the Minister of Transportation has cautioned his supporters and Rivers people to steer clear of violence as that is not the best way to resolve any issue.

Amaechi was reacting to two viral videos of his alleged supporters in Rivers state, one group inciting violence and the other dissociating him from the comments of the first group stating that he is a man of peace.

He addressed the issue during a TV interview Tuesday, stating that the rule of law must be respected and upheld at all times.

He said, “First, if you say you’re my supporter, you’ll know that I don’t just respect the law, I fear the law. Breaking the law can put you in jail. Because of the kind of words used in that video, I may have to address it.

“I believe that no matter how angry you are, no matter how institutions are manipulated, a judge once said ‘I’m allowed to be wrong, that’s why you have the Court of Appeal, that’s why you have the Supreme Court.’ So if you think that what the state judiciary is doing is wrong, then you go to the Court of Appeal, you go to the supreme court and ensure you exhaust the due process. No matter your frustration, you don’t have the right to take the law into your hands.

Asked about the crises in his party at both national and state level, Amaechi said, “What is happening in APC, I don’t know, what is happening in Rivers State, I don’t know. What I’ve done is to keep away from politics, even if I’m bothered, it’ll be internal; there’s nobody there (in the party) who is a child, we’re all adults. I don’t want to get involved in the politics.

“Nigerians know me for being blunt and honest. Some see it as arrogance, some see it as being brash, whatever it is. What do I need to say that I have not said before? It’s internal dynamics of politics, it’s internal struggle. So, I have said it several times, when we fought in 2015, I said this country cannot continue the way it is going. I’m not helpless, but I’m doing what they call ‘sidon look’.

“I’m responding to those videos because, they all said they are my supporters, those who made the comment and those who countered them. My message to everyone is to tell everybody who is supporting me to please remain calm and get out of violence. Never be part of violence because I will not defend anybody when you get violent. The law will take its course. Whatever is happening, if anything goes wrong in the High Court, you go to the Court of Appeal, if anything goes wrong in the court of appeal, you go to the supreme court, but don’t you ever take the law into your hands, just like my children would never do that. My kids and my brothers know that I’m not a man who will come out to subvert the law. So I will not come and help you, if you’re my brother or my son and you take the law into your hands.”