We need restructuring, not secession, says Wike

 

RIVERS State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has advised persons agitating for secession to rather demand for restructuring of the country to attain desired unity.

The governor said “We need the unity of this country. What everybody is talking about is the restructuring of this country. If we are practising federalism, let it be federalism. We can’t be talking about federalism, but we are practising a unitary system of government.”

A statement signed by Wike’s Special Assistant, Media, Kelvin Ebiri, said the governor spoke when the Primate of the All Nigeria Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Henry Chukwuka Ndukuba led a delegation of the Church to visit him at the Government House, Port Harcourt.

The governor said that the people of Rivers State had lived peacefully  with Nigerians from other parts of the country regretting that criminals under  the aegis of the outlawed, Indigenous Peoples  of Biafra (IPOB), misconstrued the peaceful disposition of the state  to carry out ‘treasonous’ activities like hoisting of their flags in Rivers community.

He said that Rivers was peaceful during the EndSARS protest, until IPOB members unleashed unprovoked attacks that killed six soldiers, four policemen, and destroyed all police stations and court buildings in Oyigbo.

He added that the allegation that he ordered soldiers to attack Igbo people living in Oyigbo was untrue and politically motivated.

Wike said if he had not imposed curfew based on security advice, there would have been bloody confrontation between Hausa and Igbo communities.

In his reaction to the development, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, on Friday vowed to avenge the death of those innocent youths killed in Obigbo, Rivers State.

Kanu said in a statement by the IPOB Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, that the organisation is watching with keen interest, “the murder of our people in cold blood in every part of Nigeria, particularly in Obigbo, Rivers State, where Governor Nyesom Wike and the Nigeria security agents are deriving joy in slaughtering innocent people.”

He accused the governor of working for the Northern political elite who he said have promised to endorse him for the vice presidential slot in 2023.

Wike had told the Primate of the All Nigeria Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Henry Chukwuka Ndukuba-led delegation to advise the church to obey the COVID-19 protocols adding that based on the security report at his disposal the churches were lagging behind.