Outrage Over Attack On Govs In Rivers

Prof. Itse-Sagay

Prof. Itse-Sagay

Prominent Nigerians have condemned the attack on governors of four northern states in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, Tuesday by protesters who are believed to have been sponsored by politicians loyal to President Goodluck Jonathan.

Those who spoke with P.M.NEWS this morning urged Nigerians to speak out with one voice against the President and his handlers, accusing the President of carrying out activities that could set the entire country on fire.

The governors, Sule Lamido (Jigawa);  Murtala Nyako (Adamawa); Babangida Aliyu (Niger);  and Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), who were  on a solidarity visit to Governor Rotimi Amaechi over his alleged persecution by President Jonathan and his wife, Patience, were attacked right from the airport at the state capital and held hostage for hours while the bus that was to convey them to the Government House was pelted with stones by the protesters under the auspices of the Grassroots Development Initiative, GDI.

In his reaction, Constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay, said the attack confirms that there is no disgusting limits to which Nigerian politicians cannot descend to achieve their selfish retention of power.

Warning that the politicians were already stretching their luck too far, he said the attack was the height of breach of protocol and decency, describing it as a severe blow to the solidarity of the country.

“It is very obvious the protesters were sponsored by some politicians,” he noted, reminding the perpetrators that the governors are mini-presidents being the heads of their various states.

The incident, he said, “shows the low quality of Nigerian politicians and the extent they can go and this is a major stain on Nigeria.”

Prof. Sagay further said the incident has created the opportunity for the northern governors, who before now had rejected the establishment of state police, to begin to see the need for states to have their police to balance issues like this.

“In a federation, every state must have a police. In the US, the states, the local government and even campuses have their various police. Why is Nigeria so negatively different in everything?” he asked, expressing shock the people at that level could be so dealt with.

Prominent lawyer and Solicitor of the Supreme Court, Chris Akiri, described the attack on the governors as “an open sesame to political instability”, saying further that it “represents a noisome indiscipline on the part of politicians who want to be in office forever.

Wondering why such an attack could even happen, he said it doesn’t augur well for the country especially in the eye of the international community.

Akiri also warned Nigerians not to overlook such pockets of violence that are springing up in every corner of the country as they spell doom for the country’s current democracy.

He also added his voice to the clamour for the removal of the Commissioner of Police in the State, Joseph Mbu, saying even though Section 215 and 216 of the constitution says he should get directives from the presidency, the Inspector-General of Police and the Minister so appointed to oversee his organisation, he has forgotten that the Governor is the Chief Security Officer of the state where he operates currently.

“He has shown gross indiscipline to the person who is the Chief Security Officer of the state who he should defer to. He is throwing the floodgate of indiscipline wide open and this is bad for the polity,” he said.

National Publicity Secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, expressed the danger the incident posed for the country, accusing the President of promoting anarchy.

“If elected governors can’t move freely in their own country, then democracy is in danger. What explanations does the police have for not being able to protect the governors?” he asked, wondering how it was possible for the protesters, who he called a group of bandits and rascals, to successfully throw stones at the governors.

“We just want to warn the President that he is carrying the personal animosity towards Amaechi too far. In the process, he can set the country on fire.

“I am told that the affected governors were so upset that they threatened to stop funding the police from the statutory allocations and you know what that could degenerate into.

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“We just want to warn him that should anything happen to Amaechi, the entire world would hold him responsible,” Alhaji Mohammed said.

Lagos lawyer and aspirant for the forthcoming governorship election in Delta State, Festus Keyamo, described the attack as a descent into crude politics by the presidency.

He asked Nigerians to come together to stop the presidency from going ahead with this crude methods, adding that the CP Mbu must be removed.

“Why should he not dance to the tune of the Governor who is the Chief Security Officer of the state?”

Spokesperson for the Save Nigeria Group, SNG, Yinka Odumakin, condemned the attack and described it as unfortunate and barbaric.

According to him, the constitution prescribes freedom of movement and of association. He therefore urged Nigerians not to be quiet in order to ensure that the perpetrators and their sponsors are brought to book according to the law.

President of the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL, Debo Adeniran, said the attack was uncalled for, adding: “you can withdraw your support for someone, but you cannot withdraw that support on people’s behalf.

“The attack shows that future of elections in this country are bleak because we are going from bad to worse.

“The Commissioner of Police in the state has demonstrated bias and garners enough audacity to insult the Governor. He has even been behaving as if he is the Governor,” Adeniran said, supporting that he should be dismissed from the Police Force and tried for being a coup master in the state House of Assembly saga, adding that “the brigandage that took place at the airport was a way to cause anarchy.”

Earlier, former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar condemned the attack on the governors, warning the actors to tread with caution in their conduct so that they would not derail the country’s democracy.

Warning those behind the crises in Rivers State against believing that nothing could happen, he urged them to be mindful of the history of the country and the chains of crises that disrupted democracy in the past.

He warned Nigerians not to tolerate such political rascality especially at the expense of true governance and service to the people.

A member of the House of Representatives representing Andoni/Opobo-Nkoro Federal Constituency of Rivers State, Dakuku Peterside, also described the incident as barbaric, warning that those fomenting such troubles should be prepared for its consequences.

He said: “they should reflect on the events of the Western Region parliament in Ibadan that eventually led to the end of the First Republic and the disputed Ondo State election in 1983, and decide if this is the path they want to go.”

“I wonder why the police in Rivers State under Commissioner Joseph Mbu chose to play politics with the safety and security of the people of Rivers State and tarnish the image of Rivers people.”

The Commissioner for Information and Communications in the state, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, had in her reaction, said the Grassroots Democratic Initiative (GDI), which is loyal to the Minister of State for Education,  Nyesom Wike, and the executive members of the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, mobilised the protesters.

She claimed that, “Wike had boasted after the failed impeachment attempt at the Rivers State House of Assembly that he would set Rivers State ablaze and render it ungovernable. This portends grave danger and has far-reaching implications for our fledgling democracy.”

—Eromosele Ebhomele

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