Big cover-up exists on the Rivers State crisis— HORSFALL

Chief Albert K. Horsfall, an elder statesman from Rivers State, ex director of the State Security Service (SSS) and former chairman of OMPADEC (Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission) and presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in 2007 general elections in this encounter alleges a big cover-up on the people behind the crisis in Port Harcourt and Rivers State, saying the problems cannot be solved if the truth is not revealed.
He tries to give a clue to the problem, blaming the governor and his cousin, Rotimi Amaechi as the architects of the mayhem. He also spoke on a wide range of issues including the problem that could emanate from evicting the occupants of the waterfront, believed to be the hide-out of the cultists. Excerpts:
The Port Harcourt we know as a garden city has ceased to be so. What has really happened to Port Harcourt?
The Garden City would have still been so or more, but the civilian administration in Rivers State has eroded and derailed the status of Port Harcourt from being the garden city. In fact, the situation of Port Harcourt today can be blamed on the eight years of civilian administration in the state where unfortunately, there is a lot of false propaganda, mis-information, privatisation of government interests and public interests.
The combination of these states of affairs has reduced the garden city to a terrorists’ city but the right word is garbage city because if you go to Port Harcourt now, it’s garbage all over the state. That is what I think has been the problem.
The civilian governments have been very unfavourable in Rivers State, in Port Harcourt, such that what was going on for eight years was always being submerged and things were drastically going wrong. Nobody knew about them. Nobody could say anything about them. People felt intimidated. Those who know couldn’t come out to speak because there was always a frenzy to push on one side of events, that side that favoured government propaganda. That was what was going on for eight years.
Port Harcourt continued to degenerate to the stage now where militias and cult groups have taken over and reign supreme. The government and top politicians are funding and using these militia cult armies to terrorize the populace. This is what has happened in Port Harcourt.
There are different versions of the story of the mayhem in Port Harcourt. Some people are giving it ethnic colouration, describing it as an attempt to frustrate the first Ikwerre man to become governor and others are saying that between the governor and the former speaker, Rotimi Amacechi lies the truth. Is it so?It is true. Like I just told you, for eight years, a culture of cover-up of events in Rivers State was established such that it was always difficult to know what was happening in the state.
Everything coming from Port Harcourt was painted in rosy terms. Everything coming from Port Harcourt had a rose attached to it — a golden governor, rosy this, rosy that, development was number one and so forth. Anytime there was an attempt to tell the truth about the state of things in the state, government goes into a frenzy and sends out agents to put a contrary viewpoint and a proper view expressed by responsible citizens will never be heard but were subdued.
That has been the situation until the last general elections and the aftermath of it, which as we know saw two political gladiators, the former speaker of the state assembly, Rotimi Amaechi on one hand and the man who emerged as governor, Celestine Omehia on the other hand.
Between them is the truth. Ask them the cause because one is challenging the eligibility of the other. The matter was at the Court of Appeal which has given a decision which was still detested by the other party. As it is, the matter is at the Supreme Court but the Supreme Court is on recess. The whole of August is traditionally a period of recess for the courts. So, while this recess is on, it appears these gladiators have decided to go and fight it out on the streets of Port Harcourt and other parts of Rivers State.
Consequently, that was the case before the military intervened. The truth is that these political gladiators have sponsored rival militia armies in the state as they battle for the control of Port Harcourt and consequently Rivers State. That’s the immediate reason for this escalation, this armed conflict in Rivers State. As you know, nothing really provoked the situation.
Suddenly, one day, some people started shooting at nobody in particular. The next day, some other people started shooting back. The long and short of it is that they were being paid and sponsored by rival political leaderships. So, that is the cause of the crisis in Rivers State.
The belief now is that the Joint Task Force (JTF), has brought the matter under control. Would you say so or would you still insist on emergency rule?
It is totally inevitable and obvious that Amaechi and Omehia are fighting each other and promoting rival groups to stop the reign of peace in Port Harcourt and Rivers State. That being the case, both parties are part of the problem.
You would have heard, I have read it and have been told by different persons that the issue of cults and militias permeates every level of government in Rivers State. It was alleged in one of the papers that I read that starting from the most senior politician down to the local government chairmen in the state, most of them control some cult membership for their own protection or advancing their political cause. Now, if you allowed one cult member to be in charge, you are inviting the rival cult member to attack that person. And if the military douses that situation as it seems to be, it’s only a temporary palliative.
In a matter of time, the thing will flare up again. So, it is obvious that the proper solution is to get a neutral person to be an administrator in a state of emergency which is what is operating in Rivers State today whether we like it or not. There is curfew and people cannot move about freely.
All the tenets of an emergency situation is taking place except that there is no state of emergency and one of the parties to the dispute is in charge of affairs but that is not fair because under the present circumstances, you cannot achieve justice and you cannot settle the matter.
The other people, if they are temporarily subdued, after a while will come back again because their rival is there and they will want to fight it out again. So, it is obvious that we need a state of emergency with a neutral person. Some mistake a state of emergency that it has to be a soldier. The administrator doesn’t have to be a soldier.
As matter of fact, the very first state of emergency in Nigeria, the administrator of that state of emergency was a medical doctor, not a soldier or anything like that. The situation in Rivers State has become so complicated that we need a mature, responsible, experienced statesman from any part of this country that is adjudged a person of integrity to operate this state of emergency, sort out the situation and then allow the government to resume.
We have not sorted out the situation. Whether it is Omehia, whether it is anybody else, that is not our interest. I’m not opposed to Omehia. I’m not in favour of Amechi. It’s not about Omehia being an Ikwerre man. It’s not an ethnic thing. I’m not against an Ikwerre man. Not at all. Let me tell you this; the Ikwerres, the Kalabaris, the Ijaws and whoever it is in that state have lived together for centuries. The place called Rivers State was first made a province in 1947 by the British colonialists.
Even before that, our fathers, our ancestors have traded and intermarried with one another for many centuries before that. So, the Ikwerres have lived together with the Ijaws, the Kalabaris, the Igbanis for ages. It has nothing to do with ethnic politics. On my part, my father’s first daughter is an Ikwerre. Everybody in Port Harcourt knows that I don’t buy such things. As far as I’m concerned, the best person should be governor.
I’m not against an Ikwerre leader and I don’t think any responsible Rivers man is against an Ikwerre governor. So, it’s not an ethnic problem. The desperate politicians who want to manipulate the issues are trying to make it look as if it is an Ikwerre versus Ijaw or Kalabari affair. I think we have grown so close over the years and we can see through this deception and totally ignore their manipulation.
Now, let’s look at it from the family angle. Omehia has said times without number that Amaechi is his first cousin. Why haven’t the elders tried to reconcile them as brothers?
I don’t know, except that as an elder, if they come before me, I will reconcile them because I don’t want any problems in Rivers State. I don’t know if they have sought for elders advice somewhere else. They both come from Ubima and obviously are very closely related but it would surprise anyone that such close relatives have fought themselves to the Supreme Court on issues that elders could have settled.
I don’t know the type of first cousin relationship that they have which they don’t express.Governor Omehia has ordered that occupants of the Waterfront vacate the area by December because the cultists are hiding in those ramshackle (dwellings). Now, there is the fear that decent indigenes may be displaced in the process and that could compound the problem. What do you advise?
I don’t know. If I were to advise the governor, I would tell him not to make such a pronouncement without proper and careful planning. I have heard many stories about the waterfronts of Rivers State. One version said he would demolish the place and build new modern estates where people can go and live and the first people who would be allocated the new buildings would be those who lived there before.
I wish it is true. But I would say elders should advise this young man because it is a very sensitive issue. You don’t touch it without proper planning. You have to introduce an architectural design to convince people that you are serious.
You want to be able to allocate before hand, based on the architectural design the plots to their original inhabitants. You want to identify those who are the real inhabitants of the place. Many of these people don’t have title documents. It’s their ancestral homes. You have to identify them, make a proper census and convince them that when the new structures are set up, it’s going to be allocated to them. You have to get the contractors approved. They themselves should be a member of the committee that would make this arrangement.
Don’t sideline them. You should not just come and say, we are giving you this, no. Bring them in if you are sincere. You have to then give a proper time-table for this construction to take place. And again, you have to provide the funds and put them in an account to say that, contractor A and B, when you start your work, your money is here, we will pay you, so somewhere along the line you won’t stop it or say there is no estimate for it. But if you want to merely beautify the waterfront for tourist attraction, then you have to find places inside Port Harcourt to relocate these people you are going to remove from those areas because these people were the original indigenes of Port Harcourt town but were driven away during urbanization of Port Harcourt. If you don’t do that, as I say, if I’m an elder advising Omehia, I will say, ol’ boy be careful here. It’s a very sensitive issue.
Is anything being done about the source of the sophisticated weapons used by the cultists?
I don’t know. But as you know, all the key combatants — Asari Dokubo, Ateke Tom, Soboma George have all openly confessed how they came about their weapons, who funded them, who started the militia and the cult projects. So, they know best.
So the elders are calling for emergency rule. Is there no other way for peace to return to Port Harcourt?
Emergency rule per se will not bring peace. Emergency rule is called for because in the complicated, tangled up situation in Rivers State, you need a neutral person to go and dismantle the situation because those persons, that is, the three people I told you about. Asari Dokubo, Ateke Tom, Soboma George have said who armed them and started them on a political thuggery mission and these are still walking the streets of Port Harcourt and Abuja. They are still there.
So, if they are there and they put these things together, nobody has asked them: “Oga, these people have said you funded them, come and let us see how we can put off this thing, maybe you have the key. The poor people of Rivers State are suffering everyday over these issues. What about those who set this state of affairs in motion? Let them be asked to contribute to how to dismantle this thing. They probably have the key. That is the starting point.
Do you foresee a situation where peace returns permanently to Port Harcourt in the nearest future?
I will wish for that. I pray for that everyday. I kneel down and I pray for Port Harcourt. If there is a place that should be called a land of milk and honey, Rivers State is land of milk and honey. So, I pray for peace to return there. I pray that the garbage be removed from Port Harcourt and the garden be returned there.
If you go to Port Harcourt and see how the place is now, you will agree that it will take a very sincere and really Rivers man, and when I say Rivers man, Ikwerre is Rivers, Ogoni is Rivers, Kalabari is Rivers, Okrika is Rivers, it will take a solid, sincere Rivers man to get the wheels of progress back to Port Harcourt if we really expect to see it as a garden city ever again, a waterfront city. But the people have lost confidence in governments’ pronouncements and promises.
There was a place called Rainbow Town. When it was being destroyed by the last administration, they said they were going to rebuild it and re-allocate it to the original inhabitants of the place. It was a peaceful place but up till today, at least about five years after it was destroyed, nothing was heard about it.
The last thing we heard about the place after all the propaganda was that it was now being shared among top brass of the state. The same thing might happen to the waterfront. In fact, the waterfront is the most suitable place for the big people to live in. So, we hope that these promises will not be empty promises like the previous ones.
So, the waterfronts are occupied by local people, the indigenes?I believe so. There are many people from different backgrounds living there and they have been there for years. Apparently, their fore-fathers who were fishermen and traders lived there. So, that’s why I said it is a very sensitive issue. Don’t just point hands somewhere and make pronouncements without a thorough plan.
How does one ascertain that those calling for emergency rule are doing so out of love for the state and not for political reasons especially with allegations that some of those doing so are non-indigenes?
I don’t know those you are referring to as non-indigenes. But this issue is a topical one. It’s a national issue. What is happening in Port Harcourt touches everyone. And the comments have come from all over the Niger Delta, both for and against a state of emergency. Different people have talked. For instance, for state of emergency, E.K Clark of Delta State is an Ijaw elder; John Oyegun, Edo State has spoken. So, it touches everybody.
Itse Sagay has spoken. He’s from Delta State. Now, many of these people who have made contrary comments probably do not have the full information of what has taken place. Like I’m telling you know, I’m sure they don’t know many of these things. If they do, they will know that only a neutral person can unfold and sort out the very complicated situation in Rivers State.
I tell you, it’s the same pattern, the same style. The whole of Rivers State has become one main grave yard of cults. I understand there is somebody at the head of the cults .They call him the Capone and once the Capone speaks, it’s final. Nobody says anything again. If he says go and kill, the order is carried out to the letter or whatever he decides.
So, what is happening in Rivers State now, even those who know the truth are too frightened to say so because they are going to be dealt with; either by being physically manhandled, beaten, destroyed or put into economic misery or deprivation. And so, they will just keep quiet, even though they don’t believe it, even though their opinions will help government make good decisions.
For instance, I’m telling you about the Waterfronts. If I’m the one advising Omehia, I will tell him to keep it cool because it’s a very delicate thing; don’t make pronouncements like that, you will inflame the situation. And for those trying to make it an ethnic affair, I will tell them no, you are wasting time, these people have lived together for centuries.
I was reading a literature about somebody from Harry Marshal’s town in Kalabari land. He was one of the prosperous kings in 17th and 18th century and his mother was from Ikwerre land, as far back as that time. So, these people have interacted and lived together for centuries. Anybody trying to make ethnicity out of it is only trying to be mischievous.
So, the truth of the crisis is yet unknown?
Nobody knows the truth. They don’t want people to know the truth because when the truth is known, then people will react properly and appropriately. I’m speaking just as an elder of the place. I’m not in support of, or against anybody. I want the truth to be known so that the Federal Government will know how to begin to sort out that place for the benefit of all concerned.

Alamieyeseigha opens up,indicts Obasanjo

A former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, on Sunday said ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo was behind his ordeal with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Alamieyeseigha, who spoke at a thanksgiving service for him at the Royal House of Grace Church, Yenagoa, claimed that Obasanjo and some foreign powers viewed him as an impediment to their alleged oil deals in the Gulf of Guinea.
He also accused the Obasanjo administration of making the British Government to charge him for terrorism and not money laundering.
The former governor, who spoke for the first time since he ragained his freedom on July 26, 2007, said he was detained with madmen for 15 days in a London prison.
He traced his travails to his refusal to back Obasanjo’s botched third term agenda and his closeness to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
According to him, the former President had on August 18, 2005 sought his support to stay in power beyond 2007 but when he declined, he(Obasanjo) directed the Chairman of the EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, to deal ‘decisively’ with him.
Alamieyeseigha added that Obasanjo also instructed the EFCC to deal with a former Governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori, for also not supporting the third term agenda and for being close to Abubakar.
The former governor described his ordeal as a price he had to pay for leadership and added that he had overcome because God had not finished with him.
He said, “I really walked through the valley of the shadow of death. I am alive by the grace of God.
“I will document the experience in a readable form, for historians, political scientists and others to benefit from.
“On August 18, 2005, I received a call from Ribadu, asking me to go and reconcile with the then President. He (Ribadu) said that he had been directed by the former President to deal decisively with me and Ibori.
“Coincidentally, that was the day we held a Federal Executive Council meeting. I visited Obasanjo around 8pm on that day.
“Chief Solomon Lar and his wife were there. Obasanjo said he had been informed that I was going to run with Abubakar, but that he was not prepared to leave in 2007.
“I asked him (Obasanjo) who informed him that I was going to run with Atiku as his deputy. He said Abubakar told him. I then said I was not aware and that I was also qualified to be Nigeria’s President and not deputy.
“Obasanjo said he was not only the President, but also the Commander-in- Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and that he would deal decisively with me. I was very frank with him, but I will not share those details.
“I said, ‘Mr. President, you are the luckiest (ex-President) I have ever seen on earth, having been President three times (twice as civilian president and once as a head of state). I told him he would leave on May 29, 2007 and I asked him not to threaten me again.
“Before we left the Villa (Aso Rock), Obasanjo said he would leave me alone, if I could leave Abubakar and support him.”
The former governor disclosed that on August 26, 2005, he flew to Germany through Dubai, for medical attention but unknown to him, the Presidency had planned to put hard drugs and explosives in his luggage in order to have him arrested as a terrorist.
He claimed that after he had had an operation in a German hospital, Obasanjo called him and wished him quick recovery.
Alamieyeseigha said that shortly after the ‘get-well message’, he started receiving ‘funny’ telephone calls.
He said that on September 15 when he was discharged, two of his children joined him to move his luggage to London where they reside.
Upon landing at the Heathrow Airport, he said, over 50 policemen, who came to arrest him, told him that they had a directive from Nigeria to do so.
He claimed that Ribadu was at the airport to identify him and that when his luggage was searched, no explosive, gun or hard drug was found by the policemen.
Despite the fact that nothing incriminating was found on him, he said that the Police still went ahead to prosecute him after detaining him with madmen.
The former governor said the presiding magistrate expressed surprise that a sovereign nation could ask another nation not to allow its citizen not to return home to be tried for ‘whatever offence.’
Alamieyeseigha claimed that the British Government facilitated his escape to Cote d’Ivoire, having been disappointed by the conduct of the then Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Bayo Ojo (SAN), who told the magistrate not to allow him to return to Nigeria.
He said upon getting to Cote d’Ivoire, he met a friend , Alhaji Yahaya, who asked him to join his aircraft to Lagos.
According to him, in Lagos, another plane was arranged to take him to Port Harcourt, from where he travelled by road to Amassoma, his hometown, in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.
Alamieyeseigha said immediately the Presidency learnt that he had returned, it ordered that his home be destroyed.
“This, he said, made him to relocate to the Government House, Yenagoa.
He wondered why Obasanjo, whom he assisted to be re-elected in 2003, chose to persecute him.
The former governor also alleged that the Obasanjo regime extended its fangs to a former Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Mr. Boyelayefa Debekeme.
Alamieyeseigha said that Debekeme, who was detained in an underground cell to facilitate his December 9, 2005, was later charged with terrorism.
He said that after his removal and movement to Abuja, the Presidency directed the day that he should be returned to Britain.
Alamieyeseigha claimed that he was taken to Immigrations office at midnight for another passport.
He said that after the passport was issued, the British High Commission refused to give him visa and that his friends in government advised him not to eat or drink, to avoid being poisoned.
He also flayed the claim that Abubakar’s visit to him in Dubai in July was ment to overthrow the government.
The EFCC, according to him, later generated a letter in Dubai, that he was a persona-non- grata.
Alamieyeseigha declared that nobody could intimidate him and that 100 Obasanjos could not suppress the Ijaw nation.
He stated that he had forgiven all the members of the Bayelsa House of Assembly, who removed him, as well as his then deputy, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, now VP, who ‘ran away’ because of the pressure.
The former governor, who returned to his home state last Friday, said because the government did not know what to do with him , it asked him to plead guilty.
He said that he agreed to do so to stop the killings in the Niger Delta.
Alamieyeseigha was on July 26, 2007 jailed for 12 years, on a six-count charge, with each count attracting a two-year jail term.
The 12-year jail term was served concurrently, making him to spend just two years in prison.
Since Nigerian prisons take nine months to be one year, this implies that Alamieyeseigha had served out his jail term, having been in detention since December 9, 2005, and was eventually released from Ikoyi Prisons in Lagos on July 26.

Soboma begs, asks Clark to save him from JTF* Ijaw leaders insist on emergency rule in Rivers

WARRI — RUNAWAY leader of one of the rampaging cult gangs in Rivers State, Soboma George, has sent a Save Our Soul (SOS) to Ijaw leader, Chief E. K. Clark, from hiding to save him from being killed by men of the Joint Task Force (JTF).
Soboma initially thought to have been killed when soldiers stormed one of his hide outs in Port Harcourt two weeks ago, says he is now ready to drop his arms and embrace peace.
Chief Clark himself yesterday at a press conference in Warri, yesterday, released the names of top politicians in Rivers State he claimed to be cultists and brains behind the recurring violence in that state.
The Ijaw leader told reporters that George, a former second-in-command to another gang leader, Ateke Tom, who recently renounced cultism, phoned him a day after the invasion of his hideout in Port Harcourt by soldiers to say that he was very much alive and asked for help.
Asked by Vanguard what really transpired between him and Soboma George when the latter phoned him, Clark said: “Soboma George was declared dead on a particular day, and the following morning, my telephone rang…Who was that, Soboma George, I was in Kiagbodo. And what happened, the boy said, I am not dead, I am alive and later the Inspector-General of Police confirmed it.”
Clark said the first thing he asked George was: “Who gave him my (Clark’s) telephone number and he said: ‘You are our father, you are our leader, I am not dead.’ And I now said: can we settle? Can I bring you and Ateke Tom together? He said: ‘Yes sir if you can do that but tell the Federal Government not to shoot us again.’
“He said they (soldiers) came to their village where they were hiding to shoot all of them and he told me how the hotel where he was staying was bombarded. So, I told him, you are a small boy, what are you gaining? I hear you and…Then, he told me the story. That Ateke Tom thought that he had a hand, and is benefitting from the mega-station and that was how it was bombed.
“I said well, I am going to bring the two of you together. Please don’t fight again, I will tell the Federal Government not to…and I have spoken to Ateke Tom. So I am in contact with them. I have spoken to Farah’s boys. I have spoken to most of them. I have spoken to Alele Horsfall. I have been in contact with these boys in the interest of peace. What will be my interest to organise these boys to go and fight people? What am I looking for? I have a duty to bring peace and the boys who are dying are our boys,” he said.
Chief Clark said since 1999 Rivers State has known no peace, adding: “Recently, Prince Igodo, one of the boys was killed in Tombia. Did you not hear that? That is part of this fight which is going on. These people are behind the whole thing. It is a very dangerous situation. The peace may go down today, tomorrow, it will come again. So, that is why we are asking for a new person to come and probe the place.”
He dismissed insinuations that the Ijaw elders were not in touch with the boys and were just grandstanding with their statement on the Rivers crisis, saying: “You can see that we are in touch with these boys, advising them to make sure that nobody uses them to cause crisis in the state.”
Tthe former Federal Commissioner for Information also threw more light yesterday on his call last week with some of the Niger Delta leaders for emergency rule in Rivers State. Besides, he released the names of government officials who he alleged are the financiers, patrons, mentors, sponsors and godfathers of some of the over 103 cult groups in the state.
He said the Niger Delta leaders actually wanted to submit the names of the cultists directly to President Umaru Yar’Adua but they “reluctantly decided to disclose some of the information we were holding back and which may cause a lot of embarrassment to the Rivers State politicians who have no conscience and who are masquerading themselves as innocent men after their attention was drawn to some comments of prominent Nigerians in the Saturday Vanguard of August 25, 2007 at page 5.”
Clark names suspected cultists
According to the 12-page address, entitled: “Who are the cultists in Rivers State — Why Celestine Omehia should step down for peace and stability to be restored in Rivers State,” jointly signed by Chief Clark and secretary of the Forum, Dr. M.P. Okonny, a list of 16 People’s Democratic Party (PDP) sponsors in the state was submitted by the State Security Service (SSS) to the party before the 2007 elections as cultists. A former top government official in the state was also named as the originator of the cult groups.
Vanguard, however, cannot publish the names on legal ground. But on the list are a former top official of the state Assembly, a former minister, a contender to a first class stool in the state, former federal and state legislators, and a serving commissioner.
Also on the list are some serving federal/state legislators and another top official of the state government, who he alleged was “a declared cultist in the university. He was rusticated, that is why he did not finish from the university.“The above submitted list by the SSS has never been refuted by any of the persons listed since the publication.”
He said although Governor Celestine Omehia may not be a cultist, he is surrounded by cultists and that a former official of the state government was responsible for the introduction of armed youths into the body polity of the state. “The evidence is there and the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is aware,” he claimed, adding: “Both Ateke Tom of Okirika and Soboma George of Kalabari accused each other of being sponsored by the Rivers State government. Ateke Tom accused Soboma George of having a contract from Rivers State government to renovate the Civic Centre in Port-Harcourt and that one of them has a ‘pump’ in the mega station and hence the opposing camp attacked and destroyed it. It is open knowledge that Asari-Dokubo, Ateke Tom, Soboma George, Phillip and Farah Dagogo have been financed by government at one time or the other.”
Ijaw elders insist on emergency rule
The elders, however, stated for the avoidance of doubt: “We are not against Omehia as a person or are we interested on how he became the Governor of Rivers State. What we are saying is, he is a victim or child of circumstance. He is therefore, part of the problems of Rivers State and they have all admitted he could not handle the one between Asari Dokubo and Ateke Tom in 2004.”
Explaining that Chief Clark in his capacity as national leader of the Ijaw nation and leader of the South-South zone negotiated in the past with the Federal Government, the release of Asari-Dokubo, leader of the Niger-Delta People’s Volunteers Force, as well as meeting and discussing severally with Odili when he was the governor of Rivers State on how to restore peace to the state, the elders said it was amusing for Omehia or anybody in his government to refer to him and other Ijaw elders as interlopers in the affairs of the state.
According to them, “there is a complete and total emergency in operation in Port Harcourt as at today and the only lacking ingredient is that the government in place in the state that has admitted her inability to cope with the ensuing militancy and cultism still operates in the state at the seat of governance. It is therefore, the lawmakers and Governor Omehia that are short-sighted, selfish and lack focus because all that they are doing is to perpetuate the status quo…
“We observe that presently, the elements for a state of emergency are already in place in Rivers State but the only thing missing is the appointment of a neutral, powerful and impartial administrator to ensure speedy recovery of real and lasting peace in Rivers State. The presence of Omehia cannot bring that expected peace and stability because Omehia is part and parcel of the problems of the Rivers State… As the lawmakers said in their statement, the cultists are fighting to gain supremacy of control in Rivers State.
“The fighting boys are on the payroll of each of these groups and in fact, some of the leading fighters are security details of top politicians and some of them have contracts which they are executing on behalf of the Rivers State government. How can it be said by any sane person that these political leaders are capable of bringing the desired peace and stability to Rivers State? Therefore, the people of Rivers State do not think that the state will be safe in the hands of Governor Omehia and fellow political grandeurs.”
They insisted that there was no way the present crop of political leaders in Rivers State would be able to resolve the problems of the state and since humanity abhors anyone being a judge in his own matter, it was right and proper that a third party comes in to deal a decisive blow to the monsters, which is the political class that has armed the criminal youths that carry out the attacks that have devastated Port Harcourt in the past weeks.
The Ijaw elders said it was because of corruption and vested interest that the PDP leadership in Abuja failed to take any action in the past against these politicians who have found themselves in government and corridors of power, saying: “And that is what brought us to the terrible armed conflicts amongst the cultists in Rivers state today.
“Once again, we repeat our call on Mr. President to take a decisive action by declaring a ‘state of emergency’ in Rivers State and appoint an administrator from outside the Niger Delta of not lower than a retired General or its equivalent to control the irredeemable breakdown of law and order in Rivers State. We are not against Omehia of ruling Rivers State. Our concern now is the security of the state. Thereafter, he can take over after six months as it was in Plateau State.
“Omehia is strongly advised to subsume his personal ambition to the general wish of the state and no amount of insult of the Ijaw elders and leaders will deter them from telling the truth and telling Mr. President to take appropriate action… We repeat , the declaration of state of emergency is the only answer to the complicated problems in Rivers State, which will flush out once and for all the criminals, monsters and cultists in Rivers State,” the elders said.
Rivers Patriots differ with elders
Meanwhile, the Committee of Rivers Patriots, reacting yesterday to Chief Clark’s statement defended the state government and said “this committee is aware of Chief Edwin Clark’s news conference in Warri this morning (yesterday) and wishes to state the following:
“We have since advised the government of Rivers State not to join issues with Chief Edwin Clark and his clique any more, as doing so would definitely amount to distracting itself. We insist that our governor, Sir Celestine Omehia, should remain focussed and continue with his five-point agenda, otherwise known as SHIRE social contract, for the people of Rivers State.“We are happy that the Federal Government under the leadership of President Umaru Yar’Adua appreciates the problems in our state, and recognises the capacity of Sir Omehia to respond to it appropriately.
“Our group, Committee of Rivers Patriots, commends the Service Chiefs for their quick intervention in response to the call by His Excellency, Sir Celestine Omehia, as they recognised the fact that the internal security of the country and its component parts, is purely the responsibility of the Federal Government. We applaud the stand of Rivers Elders and other well-meaning bodies in the state, for their support and understanding.
“Finally, we wish to advise Chief Clark and his diminishing crowd to find other ways of keeping themselves busy, and stop the habit of making inflammable statements that do not help the course of peace, order and development.”The statement was signed by Tamuno Tonye-Princewill.

Port Harcourt Cult Leaders Plead for Amnesty

The Rivers State Gover-nment has announced the extension of thecurfew imposed in Port Harcourt for another one week for what itsaid was meant to sustain the peace so far attained in the State.The extension is coming as a major player in the cult groups€ ’²war and Leader of Niger Delta Vigilante Move-ment (NDVM), Mr.Ateke Tom, wrote to request for amnesty from Governor CelestineOmehia whom he pleaded with to guarantee his safety from harm.His counterpart, George Soboma, who survived a military assaultlast week, is also reported to have made advances to the stategovernment, promising to renounce violence if the state wouldgrant him amnesty.Ateke, in a letter dated August 13, 2007 and entitled € ’³Totaland unreserved support for the current peace efforts ofgovernment renunciation of violence and request for amnestyannounced by you€ ’´ said that since he renounced violence atthe Okrika Peace Declaration on July 14, he had distanced himselffrom violence.Ateke who signed the request to Omehia as € ’³Comrade€ ’´ saidhis boys were not involved in the fracas which claimed severallives and told Omehia to grant his request under the tenets ofthe Peace and Reconciliation Committee.€ ’³Your Excellency, I use this medium to deny any involvementin the recent spate of shootings in the city of Port Harcourt. Idid not and will never again engage in such conduct.€ ’³Sir, I believe that your public and unambiguous offer ofamnesty to all who renounce violence is genuine; and I and NDVMmembers hereby request and appeal to be rendered the amnestypromised by you. With the granting of amnesty to me and mymembers and the guarantee of our safety by your government, I amsure the process of peace in our land will be complete€ ’´,Ateke requested.Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of the Joint Task Force,Major Sagir Musa has said that they will guaranty the safety ofany of the cult leaders who surrenders and give them adequateinformation on what they need to know as they were not interestedin killing anyone.Sagir€ ’²s explanation is coming in the face of alleged moves bythe cult leaders now driven into the creeks seeking for amnesty.Apart from Ateke who has officially written asking to be grantedamnesty with his boys, it was also learnt that Soboma George,leader of Outlaws has promised to come into the open to prove hewas ready for peace if his safety would be guaranteed.Responding to such requests, Musa said they were ready to assureanyone with good intention s of their safety but had statedearlier that they will get those they were looking for who are onthe run as it was only a matter of time.The curfew extension was made public by the Attorney General ofthe State, Mr. Okey Wali, after the State Executive councilmeeting decided on it Wednesday night. He said the extension wasexhaustively deliberated upon before a decision was taken.Wali expressed appreciation of the State to President Umaru MusaYar€ ’²Adua for the understanding and role he has played toensure the return of peace in the State and condemned calls forthe declaration of State of Emergency in the State.€ ’³Following the reappraisal of the current security situationin the State, the Rivers State Government has announced anextension of the curfew in Port Harcourt for another one week, tosustain the peace already achieved.€ ’³The State Executive Council deliberated on the securitysituation in the State and commended the steps taken to securelives and property within the State, emphasising that the needto sustain the gains recorded necessitated the extension of thecurfew by one week€ ’´, he said.He was particularly critical of the role some indigenes of theState in collaboration with some non-indigenes have played in thecall which he said was misplaced, pointing out that what was onground was that some cult groups clashed which has already beenbrought under control and therefore did not merit the call foremergency rule.Also lending its voice to the condemnation of the call foremergency rule, the South-South caucus of the House ofRepresentatives said the situation did not call for such punitiveaction as it would derail the development vision of the region.Speaking to THISDAY, Leader of the caucus, Hon Andrew Uchendusaid, € ’³I am most uncomfortable with the call by some of ourmuch respected leaders when we have a major agenda, programme andstruggle which border on development€ ’´.Continuing, Uchendu reminded the advocates of emergency rule thatif it was imposed, they will have to fight for its lifting beforecontinuing the drive to address development adding, € ’³Onestate is having a cult related problem that is neither ethnic norpolitical so why ask for State of Emergency€ ’´.

Behind calls for state of emergency in Rivers From Kelvin Ebiri

THE caution by some Ijaw elders that there would be political instability in Rivers State unless the circumstances surrounding the emergence of Celestine Omehia as governor were resolved may not have been taken seriously by the powers that be both in the state and outside.
At last December's governorship primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), four out of the eight candidates cleared to contest, namely Senator Martyns Yellowe, Dumo Lulu Briggs, Samuel Pawariso Horsfall and David Briggs were of Ijaw extraction.
Before the primaries, the Ijaw aspirants led by Senator Yellowe staged a walk out. Yellowe had emerged second behind the former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Chibuike Amaechi.
According to him, "the governor (Peter Odili) was said to have decreed that Amaechi is his candidate. Now we are seven of us here and we are protesting that we will rather have a level playing field and lose than this kangaroo kind of election. We would not accept it and we are walking out in protest."
A pro-Ijaw political group, the Rivers State Ijaw Consultative Assembly (RICA) condemned the conduct of the primaries in strong terms and rejected the result by calling for fresh polls.
Expectations among the Ijaw became high during the flag off of the PDP presidential campaign in January when former President Olusegun Obasanjo said that the party's governorship ticket (Amaechi) had a K-leg. They had assumed that since Yellowe came second, the ticket would be given to him.
They were wrong. A few days after the party announced Celestine Omehia, from the Ikwerre ethnic group as the governorship candidate. Omehia, then was a Special Adviser to Odili on inter-religious and administrative matters, was never in consideration, as he did not contest the primaries.
The RICA, which like other Ijaw groups had anticipated the emergence of an Ijaw aspirant, rejected the nomination. The chairman and secretary of RICA, Nemi Adoki and Sotonye Ijuye-Dagogo respectively, argued that with the disqualification of Amaechi, Yellowe should have been the logical replacement or alternatively, any of the aspirants that were cleared for the primary.
RICA cited the case of Bayelsa State, where Dr. Bola Igali, was dropped for Mr. Timipri Sylva, who came second at the primary. RICA argued that Igali was dropped on the ground that he did not go through the due process of nomination and party primaries.
The aggrieved Ijaw were of the view that the imposition of Omehia is shrouded in mystery, foul play and corruption because he was until his selection by a serving political appointee of the state government and did not resign his appointment three months prior to his nomination as required. RICA urged the PDP not to condone what it described as an act of political fraud.
The group argued that it would be fair, just and equitable if the next governor of Rivers should be a riverine Ijaw. It hinged the stability of the state on the upholding of the principle of power rotation between the upland area and their riverine counterparts.
The allocation of the position Speaker of the state House of Assembly to the Ijaw did not douse their political aspiration. And on Monday, the Ijaw under the aegis Niger Delta Ijaw Elders and Leaders Forum, decided to break their silence that has been maintained by groups like RICA since the emergence of Omehia as governor.
Ijaw elders led Chief Edwin Clark, at a press conference prayed the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in Rivers and after six months, conduct a free and fair election for the people to pick an acceptable governor.
Ijaw leaders present at the briefing included, former Aviation Minister, Alabo Graham Douglas, Chief Albert K Horsfall, former Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mr. Chamberlain Oyibo; Air Vice Marshal Mbu (rtd.), Admiral Bob Manuel (rtd.); Prof. Princewill, Prof. Don Pedro, Chief Francis Doukpoulagha Mr. Edward Akpangbo among others.
The Ijaw leaders reviewed the political situation in Rivers since 1999 and accused most politicians in PDP of being members of secret cults and bemoaned the party's decision not to heed the advice of the State Security Service (SSS) to stop them from holding power in government.
They urged the Federal Government to set up a judicial commission of inquiry to probe the immediate and remote causes of the present gang war in Rivers. They also asked for a probe into the killings of the former national vice-chairman, (South-South) of the All Nigerian Peoples party (ANPP), Chief Marshal Harry, former National vice-chairman of the PDP, Chief Alfred Dikibo among others.
Omehia felt that the call for a state of emergency was a larger conspiracy aimed at pulling him down. He noted the fact the two accused masterminds of the recent disturbances in the state, Ateke Tom and Soboma George, are Ijaw and it is their elders who are clamouring for a state of emergency.
At a hurried convocation of Rivers stakeholders meeting on Tuesday, the governor condemned the elders for their failure to appreciate efforts being made to solve what was purely a political matter.
He said: "Some people from Rivers and outside Rivers wanted to control Rivers from their state where criminality is worst, decided to hold meeting in Lagos, calling on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in Rivers.
"Those people are enemies of Rivers; they are the sponsors of the criminal activities in Rivers. Any person who believes that we should not end the criminal activities going on in Rivers does not mean well for all of us."
The governor recalled that he had set up the peace and reconciliation committee primarily to rehabilitate and economically empower those involved in hostage taking. He said that he regretted that his initiative was rebuffed.
"The miscreants, criminals, I won't call them the militants decided to shoot sporadically all over the place including the front of Government House, took over the streets of Port Harcourt and all they were asking for give us money," he said.
The chairman of the state chapter of the PDP, Uche Secondus aligned with the governor to castigate the Ijaw elders. Secondus described the call for a state of emergency as being driven by selfishness. He argued that since there exist a democratically elected government, the elders should have deemed it necessary to meet with the governor in order to proffer solution and "not sing war songs because state of emergency is a war song.
He said, "we condemn their statement and this call and ask the Federal Government and the president to disregard this as they are self serving and mischief makers. When the elders chose to turn the other way when people die then the undertone of the recent violence in Rivers can easily be known and traceable to some of these mischief makers."
He regretted that the crisis in the state and government's effort to restore order and fish out elements had elicited unwarranted provocative reaction from the Ijaw elders. This reaction is rather typical of the antics of those people who fan the ember of discord and disappear to other states to stir more trouble.
Secondus said a few criminals and a few self serving elders in the state cannot hold the people of Rivers who welcome what government has done to the state to ransom. The PDP chairman dismissed allegations that the party was involved in the recent disturbance in the state.
On the arrest of a state lawmaker by the Joint Task Force (JTF) in connection with the disturbance in the state, Secondus said the party would not hesitate to expel any party man indicted by security for sponsoring gangsterism.
"The JTF should investigate the matter and if he is found wanting, the law would take its course. We as PDP will not protect anyone who is lawless," he said.
He lauded the efforts of the Federal, Rivers governments in mobilising the JTF to fish out the gangsters and those behind them in undermining the peace and security of the state.
The son of the Amanyanabo of Kalabari and the Action Congress (AC) governorship candidate, Prince Tonye Princewill, said the party as co-stake-holders in Rivers does not believe that the declaration of state of emergency would solve the resultant consequences of accumulated crimes against people these past eight years.
"There is a constitutional means to changing a despotic and unpopular government and that is why we should appeal to our people to continue to tolerate this arrangement and allow the military to restore peace among our people and for the election tribunal to hasten their efforts," he said.
He urged the election petition tribunal to reclaim their peoples; stolen mandate so that "we can have a government elected by our people, that will serve the purpose of our people and not a government by a clique and for the clique that is secluded from our people."
Princewill called on the government to apologise to Clark and other elders for castigating them. But that might not be possible as the battle line appears to be drawn.
In the state government's determination, the governor has ordered the commencement of the reclamation and demolition of all the slums along the waterfronts in Port Harcourt before December. The waterfronts included those in Aggrey, Ndoki, Marine Base, Bundu, Nembe, Belle and Bonny. Others are Abuja/Prisons, Reclamation, Borokiri, Elechi, Afikpo, Timber, Abonnema wharf, Okirika, Captain Amagala, Dockyard Creek, Rex Lawson, Enugu, Ojike and Abba waterfronts.
This issue of the demolition, which is now being interpreted by the Ijaw who inhabit the waterfronts, as a deliberate attempt by the Ikwerre to expel them from Port Harcourt, might be another flank for the Ijaw and the governor to continue their war of attrition.

20 feared killed in fresh onslaught in Rivers* Ateke Tom pleads for amnesty

PORT HARCOURT — REGARDLESS of the massive deployment of soldiers on the streets of Port Harcourt in the aftermath of the recent cultists’ activities in Rivers State, armed cultists yesterday struck afresh at Rumuekpe in Emohua Local Government Area of the state, killing 20 people.
One Baribor Kerebion was also reportedly matcheted to death at Bodo yesterday by people suspected to be cultists. Emohua local government area is a short distance from Port Harcourt.
The state government has, in the meantime, extended the curfew imposed on the state by another week with a view to consolidating the relative peace in the state capital.
One of the main gang leaders locked in the supremacy battle in the state, Ateke Tom, has also reportedly applied to Governor Celestine Omehia for pardon.
Efforts to get the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu, or the Police PRO, Mrs. Baresua Ireju, to comment on yesterday fresh attack failed. A police source, however, said nine persons were killed.
Community sources put the death toll at over 20. Sources said the community had been embroiled in a chieftaincy/ youth leadership tussle for some time now. One of the groups in the disagreement reportedly mobilised the gunmen swho launched the attack.
The army PRO in the state, Major Sagir Musa, said the army had not been briefed on the incidents. He, however, vowed that the army was ready to crush any mayhem in any part of the state.
The state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Okey Wali, who announced the extension of the curfew after a meeting of the State Executive Council said the exco deliberated on the security situation in the state and commended the steps taken to secure lives and property, emphasizing that the need to sustain the gains recorded necessitated the extension of the curfew by one week.
Mr. Wali said the executive council also expressed gratitude to President Umaru Yar’Adua and the Service Chiefs for their interest and love for Rivers people and the prompt action taken to ensure that peace returned to the state.
The Commissioner said the council considered the statement from some indigenes of Rivers State in collaboration with some non-indigenes who addressed a press conference in Lagos calling for emergency rule in the state and described their action as most regrettable because there was no basis for such a call.
He explained that the problem in the state was that of cultism and all such security problems were being adequately handled by the security agencies, pointing out that internal security and defence of the country is the responsibility of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Mr. Wali asked Rivers people to take interest in the return of peace to Port Harcourt and the state in general and urged the elders involved in the statement to retrace their steps and join hands to take the state to the next level.
Ateke pleads for amnesty
Meanwhile, one of the cultists on the wanted list of security agenciess in Rivers State and leader of the Niger Delta Vigilante, Ateke Tom, has reportedly applied to Governor Celestine Omehia for pardon. Tom in a letter allegedly urged government to guarantee his safety.
He said since the peace/reconciliatio n parley he had with other cult groups at Okrika on July 14 he has been shunning violence. Meanwhile, when Vanguard contacted the Secretary of the Peace and Rehabilitation Committee constituted by the state government to rehabilitate reformed cultists in the state, Mr. Jerry Needam, if he was aware of any letter to the governor from Tom for forgiveness, he merely said the Governor had not granted amnesty to anybody but declined to say if there was such letter before the governor.
According to the letter, Tom said his boys were not part of the recent cult mayhem in the state. His words: “Your Excellency, I use this medium to deny any involvement in the recent spate of shootings in the city of Port Harcourt. I did not and will never again engage in such conduct.
“Sir, I believe that your public and unambiguous offer of amnesty to all who renounce violence is genuine; and I and NDVM members hereby request and appeal to be rendered the amnesty promised by you. With the granting of amnesty to me and my members and the guarantee of our safety by your government, I am sure the process of peace in our land will be complete,” he said.
The spokesman of the JTF in the state, Major Musa, who also could not confirm the letter, however, said the JTF was not in the state to harm lawful and responsible citizens. He said any cultist offering to surrender would not be killed by the soldiers.

JTF Attack on Soboma George

The remains of Obiabere Lodge PH, the alleged hideout of Soboma George that was bombed by JTF in an attempt to flush cultists from Port Harcourt.

Uneasy Calm In Port Harcourt, As Curfew Bites HardThere are still palpable anxieties and hardship hitting Port Harcourt residents hard as the curfew imposed by the Rivers State Government to stem the tide of cultism enters a critical stage. Penultimate week, military operation against cultist groups in some parts of Port Harcourt reportedly left over 50 persons dead while several others were seriously injured. It would be recalled that the Rivers State Government, in an attempt to provide lasting solution to militant attitude in the state, imposed a dusk to dawn curfew in the entire state. Residents in the state are expected to be indoors from 7pm in the evening to 6am in the morning. Our correspondent who monitored the curfew in the last three days reported that the curfew have inflicted further hardship on the people living and doing business in Port Harcourt. On the first day a motor-cycle spare parts dealer who was traveling back from Imo State, Mr. Peter unaware of the curfew arrived Port Harcourt late, and met a long traffic jam. According to Mr. Peter, the soldiers descended heavily on them stating that they hit him on the head with the butt of a gun.He therefore, pleaded with appropriate authorities to impress on the soldiers to be more civil, even as he welcomes the presence of the military to contain the activities of the cultists in the state. Another traveler who spoke under condition of anonymity said he was entering Port Harcourt for the first time unaware of the curfew. He decried the hardness of the security operatives on them. On the first day of the curfew, most motorists, according to our correspondent were trapped in the long traffic jam which kept them on the road till 8pm, far beyond the stipulated time of the curfew. Local transport was also hard as vehicles were off the roads. Mr. Edwin, a journalist, was held by the security men, refusing to let him off beyond the curfew time.He was, however, released after spirited efforts by his boss. For the okada operators, it has posed fresh difficulties for them. A number of the okada operators who spoke to Niger Delta STANDARD said the 6pm curfew has further eaten deep into their operational time. They noted that this has affected their income drastically, even as they said they hardly meet up with their daily needs. The curfew is also reported to be affecting business activities in town. Most shop owners contacted lamented low patronage. Even traders who usually travel to Aba to bring in their goods complained of difficult times as they hardly return on time to meet up the curfew time schedule. This, they said, had always exposed them to undue confrontation with soldiers and other security operatives in the state.

The Yar’Adua Family’s Oil Holdings

Umaru Yar’Adua’s election as Nigeria’s president will oblige oil companies operating in the country to take a fresh look at their alliances in Nigeria and court firms and persons close to the new leader. Several members of his extended family are already active in the industry.Yar’Adua Family interests in Intels.
The elder brother of Yar'Adua, Shehu Yar’Adua, who was Olusegun Obasanjo’s vice president in the former president’s first term of office, took part in founding the oil logistics and port concern Intels. Run out of London by two Italian nationals, Jan Angelo Perruchi and Gabriele Volpi, as well as by France’s Daniel Sigaud, Intels manages the oil terminals and oil services zones at Port Harcourt, Calabar and Warri and is also active in Ivory Coast, Congo-B and Angola.Since Shehu Yar’Adua’s death in prison in 1997, his family’s interests in Intels have been managed by his widow, Hajia Binta Yar’Adua. Intels has also employed several nephews of Umaru Yar’Adua, notably Murtala Yar’Adua, eldest son of Shehu. The fact that Intels can open doors to the president’s office will be invaluable to it. During the final years of Obasanjo’s presidence, the company found itself in bad odour with the government because of its links with former vice president Atiku Abubakar, who stood unsuccessfully for the presidency against the candidate of Obasanjo’s People’s Democratic Party.Family Ties to NNPC.
One of the top executives of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is also well known to the new president. Abubakar Lawal Yar’Adua (A.L. Yar’Adua) is group executive director in charge of refineries and petrochemicals and sits on the board of the state-controlled company. Although they share the same family name (the Hausa language name for a tree in northern Nigeria) A.L. Yar’Adua and the new president aren’t close relatives. However, both hail from the town of Katsina in northern Nigeria and have known each other since childhood, when they were raised together in the 1960s. A. L. Yar’Adua spent almost all of his career at the Kaduna refinery, managing it from 1996 to 1997 and again between 1999-2000 before taking over as boss of the Integrated Data Service, NNPC’s geophysical department. A.L. Yar’Adua has been in charge of refineries for NNPC since 2003 but could be take on new duties in an expected shake-up of NNPC’s management in coming months.First Alliance.
The British group Afren, which is chaired by former OPEC secretary-general Rilwanu Lukman, was the first company to form a tie with members of the Yar’Adua family. Earlier this spring, Afren penned an agreement with the Nigerian oil concern Independent Energy to take part in financing the marginal Ofa field, which Independent Energy won earlier in the present decade. One of Independent Energy’s executives is Murtala Yar’Adua. The Indian-Russian group Suntera has also forged ties with the Yar’Adua clan. Headed by Steve Lowden in London, Suntera teamed up with the Nigerian group Gas Transmission & Power on OPL 905. The group is headed by Babangida Hassan Katsina, cousin of the new president and son of major-general Hassan Usman Katsina, who was governor of the northern region of Nigeria

BETWEEN STATE OF EMERGENCY AND OMEHIA’S WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE BY SENIOR FYNEFACE

BETWEEN STATE OF EMERGENCY AND OMEHIA’S WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE
BY SENIOR FYNEFACE
A theme that ran throughout Celestine Omehia’s inauguration speech as governor of Rivers state was the emphasis that he will continue from where Peter Odili stopped.
He was very emphatic that he would build on Odili’s legacy. The question is: Which legacies did Odili leave behind? Any indigene or resident of the state can easily count Odili’s legacies to include insecurity in the state, bloodshed and gangsterism, celebration of bribery and corruption, enhanced looting of state treasury for fraudulent personal investments including Arik Air, sponsorship of cultism and assassinations, and so on and so on. So which of those legacies is Omehia talking about? Anyway, there is the popular saying that ‘a snake must give birth to a long thing,’ as it is beginning to be evident in the state.
The description of the current street battles in the state by the Omehia government as “not an isolated scenario, but part of the Niger Delta crisis, which would take time to resolve” was a clear indication of the insensitivity and helplessness current leadership in the state.
Hear what the government had to say: “The Governor Omehia-led Government from the first day in office had demonstrated a clear commitment to give the State purposeful and people-oriented leadership. Governor Omehia has a pedigree for accomplishments and no matter the ploys of a few disgruntled persons, the Government will not be distracted from its avowed commitment to serve the people”, this is pure nonsense. Who is interested in praise singing now in the state as the armed crisis is becoming more and more devastating and the fire is fast spreading to areas that were previously peaceful.
It is really unfortunate that the Rivers State Government could say that “the sporadic gun fire experienced a few days ago in Port Harcourt was the handiwork of people who plan to discredit Government for their own selfish gains.” As far as the Omehia government was concerned, “the scenario has not degenerated because if you want to achieve peace, you have to embark on reorientation and this process takes time before yielding result.” Maybe, the result would start manifesting when everybody in Port Harcourt and environs has been killed by bullets of the warring government-sponsored gangs,” may God forgive all of you in government.
Rivers state could be rightly described as a huge theatre of absurdity. Just few weeks ago, the Douglas/Needom- led Rivers State Peace and Rehabilitation Committee (RSPRC) was doling out a whopping sum of one million (N1 million) to any one who professes that he or she is a cultist, militant or gangster and would quit the trade.
As was widely reported in the media both national and Port Harcourt-based, hitherto blood-thirsty militants, cultists, and other criminal gangsters were clutching their bibles shouting hosanna in the highest and trooping to Rivers State Government House Chapel as Pentecostal born-again Christians even though Douglas a Sunni Moslem is the events manager of the Rivers State Government’s ‘who wants to be a millionaire’ promo.
Leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Alhaji Asari Dokubo as a person, would always be the man of the masses of the oppressed Niger Delta people particularly Rivers state. In what could rightly be described as a state of the region address, Asari in his usual matter- of -fact statement accused both the former and incumbent governors of Rivers state, Peter Odili and Sir Celestine Omehia of involvement in the shocking wave of violence and kidnap operations in the state that have attracted both national and international attention.
The fearless NDPVF leader chose to make his well-intended accusation at the Police Headquarters in Abuja where he had gone to inform the acting Inspector General of his intention to depart for Saudi Arabia. He alleged that Odili and Omehia were both direct and proxy collaborators with those who are kidnapping people and shooting on the streets of Port Harcourt.Whether the Rivers State Government likes to hear this or not, the latest ‘free-for –all Port Harcourt AK-47 and K-2 riffle street show’ arose because a cult group was said to be angered by the alleged patronage of a rival group by the political powers in the state.This allegedly made rival groups to want to prove that they were relevant as well. Although both actors have denied involvement, it was alleged that the aggrieved group is the coalition led by Soboma George while the government-patronized group is led by Ateke Tom, the ‘peace maker’ and recently born again former warlord.
Commendably, immediately Asari was released from hostage by the Abuja government abductors, he reportedly entered into a peace treaty with Ateke Tom. Both former enemies resolved to forget the past and forge an alliance in the interest of the Niger Delta struggle and the peace between the two seems to be holding.
The question now is: why has it become so difficult for the Rivers state government that has been “actively involved” in brokering peace between warring groups to reconcile Soboma and Ateke? Both men used to be very close allies in their joint military face-off against the Asari –led group until they parted ways after being covertly encouraged by government anchormen to do so.
For the records, Soboma George was the detainee that escaped from Port Harcourt Prisons and the scandal that followed led to the sack of the prison comptroller. The man (Soboma) was declared wanted by both the Police and Odili-led Government. However, he freely moved and socialized around town particular in the old Port Harcourt metropolis part of the city in broad day light to the knowledge of both Odili and the then police commissioner, Mr Sylvester Araba.
Ateke Tom was also declared wanted - dead or alive ‘preferably dead’ by both Odili and the police on the orders of the then crown king of Rivers state Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. He went underground and resurfaced during the Omehia -engineered peace and reconciliation propaganda and declared a turn around from his ‘evil ways’.Their boys participated together at a training and re-orientation forum held in Calabar, Cross River State recently. The Greenlanders, the Bush Boys and members of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force were also directly engaged in the project. But that was just few weeks ago.
Interestingly, just as the governor’s initiative on peace and reconciliation was about to be adjudged as producing results, both Soboma and Ateke suddenly renewed their hostilities and overnight assumed ‘the greatest threat’ to the peace effort. The two foolish brothers should read in between the lines. This was exactly the same path that the duo of Ateke and Asari treaded which finally culminated in the adoption and detention of the latter for almost two years. It took both of them rivers of blood to realize that they were remotely manipulated and armed from the same source for selfish political gains which of course turn out to be an outing for national disgrace for the actor.
Between the people who are championing calls for a state of emergency in the State and the cultists at the Government, who qualifies more to be called “agents of destabilization?” What else does anybody expect from the helpless and endangered people of the state but to look for help outside the state at least now that Obasanjo is no longer at the helm of affairs at the Presidency before it will be too late. The people occupying the Government House from all indications have failed to help protect the masses either because of their involvement or outright lack of ideas on how to solve the problem that is fast engulfing the entire state.
Governor Omehia and his predecessor, Odili should know that Rivers people are anxiously waiting for them to publicly deny the allegation of complicity or explain their innocence in the current gun duel between Ateke and Soboma- led groups. The explanation would help the people of the state to know whether to encourage Omehia to continue to build on Odili legacies or start a fresh bloodless foundation or at best quit the stage. Omehia as the governor has a lot to do if really he wants to continue from where Odili stopped.
Since Omehia and his people are yet to appreciate that the situation in the state has reached an emergency status, there is nothing wrong in calling the entire state, ‘a state of emergency’ whether declared or undeclared. Let the interest of the entire state override the myopic interests of a few cabals occupying privileged positions.