The residents of Rivers State Friday criticised Governor Nyesom Wike’s visit to Yeghe, and other communities in Ogoni without visiting the burnt senatorial office of Magnus Abe.
They wanted the governor to show concern to all parties affected in the crisis as a leader.
It would be recalled that Governor Wike on Thursday with the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Musa Kimo visited Yeghe community in Gokana Local Government Area, affected communities in Bori and Mortuaries without visiting the burnt Magnus Abe’s senatorial office.
In a statement sent by Simeon Nwakaudu, Special Assistant to the Rivers State Governor on Electronic Media, the governor accused some politicians of deliberately instigating crisis in the state to create room for the evil declaration of state of emergency.
Some of the residents who spoke to The Nation said the governor should have use his visit to make peace and calm down the youths of the area by visiting every parties involved especially those who were affected instead of accusing some politicians.
Mr. Paul Onyedi, business man, said he was unhappy that the governor visited Ogoni as politician and not as the governor of Rivers.
“What happen has happened the kind of statement credited to the governor of Rivers State would only worsen the situation in Ogoni. I was expecting him to visit the place and also try to visit the burnt senatorial office of Magnus Abe, not as Party man but as governor of Rivers State.”
Chief Akwubi Mathew, a community leader said, “The only way out is to forget about politics for now, the killing that took place in Ogoni was between armed militants and the military, for now we don’t know who is responsible for the killing but let there be peace.”
Mrs. Rita Ndabari, an Ogoni woman said the most important thing is that Governor Wike has accepted to look into the matter and to also compensate the affected families, but she regretted that the governor did not visit affected persons who are not members of his party.
“Rivers State is one, Ogoni is one, there is no death that is especial, those who are not members of the PDP that are affected were not considered on the governor’s visit. If we really want peace in Ogoni land and Rivers State as whole, then we must see everybody as one.”
But the National Coordinator of Ogoni Solidarity Forum, Celestine AkpoBari said his group condemned the killing in Ogoni land, adding that the insecurity in the area was because some politicians distributed arms to jobless youths during the 2015 election in the area.
AkpoBari said: “We condemned the killing of innocent Ogoni people; we condemned the attack on Magnus Abe. The insecurity in Ogoni today was because of the arms distributed to youth during 2015 election by some politicians for the purpose of smuggling themselves into the corridor of power,” he alleged.
Thenation……
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