YOUTHS PROTESTS AGAINST SARS IN RIVERS

Photo used for illustartion

Hundreds of youths in Rivers State yesterday, staged a peaceful protest in Port Harcourt, condemning the activities of some operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the state police command.

Protesting on the platform of Niger Delta Non-Violence Youth Leaders Assembly (NDNYLA), they marched through some major streets in Port Harcourt with placards that read: “Akin Fakorede has turned SARS into something else”, “ IGP rise up to the occasion, Akin Fakorede must go”, “The activities of Akin Fakorede is creating bad image for the Nigeria Police”, among others.

Addressing newsmen at the Ernest Ikoli Press Centre, Port Harcourt, Coordinator of the group, Omachi Chinasa, accused the SARS Commander, Akin Fakorede, of being incapable of handling operatives under him.

Omachi said: “We want to state that the SARS Commander, Akin Fakorede, is incapable of handling his men. We are being humiliated; our people are being killed. Our people have been raped and at the end of the day, they will come back and say it is our people that raped our people. Meanwhile, it is SARS people that are raping our people.

“They go with different kinds of drugs in their pockets and go to search people’s houses. At the end of the day, they plant the drugs in people’s houses. They will plant those exhibits and arrest those people. They will deal with those people and at the end of the day, you bail yourself with hundreds of thousands of naira in our state. We will no longer allow it.

“For the sake of time, what we are saying today is that let the Federal Government, especially the President, Muhammadu Buhari, come to our aid. Let the Inspector-General of Police come to our aid.”

Also speaking, one of the leaders of the protesters, Mr. Okocha Njobuanwu, demanded that the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, set up a committee to investigate the activities of SARS operatives in the state.

Okocha said: “We are here today, to register our displeasure with the activities of SARS in Rivers State. We are not against the Nigeria Police, we are not against security agents. What we are saying is that we have series of complaints against SARS. His Excellency, Governor Nyesom Wike, has also made some allegations against SARS. What we expect is for the hierarchy of the Nigeria Police, the Inspector-General of Police and the Commissioner of Police in Rivers State to set up a unit to investigate these allegations. SARS is there to protect us, but, today, we found out that SARS instead of protecting us, is killing us”.

I'M READY TO DIE TO STOP APC FROM WINNING RIVERS - GOV. WIKE

The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, on Sunday gave an indication that the 2019 election in Rivers State could be as violent as previous elections.

Speaking on his preparedness to defend his party’s votes with his life, Mr. Wike was quoted by his spokesperson as saying “I am ready to place myself on line, nobody will take Rivers State.”

Wike’s statements were contained in a statement by his spokesperson, Simon Nwakaudu, who said the governor spoke at a thanksgiving service at the St Thomas Anglican Church in Diobu on Sunday.

The governor also spoke about a recent ruling by the Court of Appeal that annulled the election of a PDP senator and replaced him with that of the APC.

“2019, they will not succeed. As far as we are concerned, we have no senator in Rivers East. The man going there has no capacity to represent us,” he said. The governor added that nobody should be afraid of the Police and the Army in the defence of their mandate in 2019.

“Nobody should be afraid of the Police or Army, because liberty comes with a price. They have nothing to campaign with outside the use of security. I am ready to place myself on line, nobody will take Rivers State “, he said.

WIKE SACKS CHAIRMEN OF FOUR LGAs IN RIVERS

GOV. WIKE OF RIVERS STATE

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has relieved the Chairmen of Four Local Government Caretaker Committees of their appointments. The affected chairmen include those of Gokana, Asari-Toru, Emohua and Ogu-Bolo Local Government Areas.

Wike in a statement released by his media aide, Simeon Nwakaudu, thanked them for their service to the state and wished them well in their future endeavours.

The sack of the Local Government chairmen is coming a day after Gov. Wike had sack all his special without any known reason. There are indications that all may not be well with Gov. Wike and his subordinates.

A source who spoke to Fabmimi.com (FM), said it is likely that the governor may also sack commissioners in the state whose loyalty Gov. Wike is in doubt. This could just be the beginning of more troubles in the Wike government.

RELATED: GOV. WIKE SACKS SPECIAL ADVISERS

GOV. WIKE SACKS SPECIAL ADVISERS

Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers state

Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers on Monday relieved all his Special Advisers of their appointments except one.

A statement by Mr Simeon Nwakaudu, Special Assistant to the Governor on Electronic Media, said only the Special Adviser on Religious Affairs, Bishop Winston Iwo was retained.

No explanation has been given by the governor why he sacked the Special Advisers.

The governor had earlier sacked the state’s Executive Council on June 24.
The governor, who has less than two years into his first tenure, is yet to re-appoint new commissioners.

After sacking the commissioners, Wike then explained that his decision was to ensure better performance of the machinery of government.

Wike noted that the dissolution was carried out at the right time after due consultation with the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

“The dissolution was done to enable the machinery of government to move the state forward; this is when you know those who are loyal and those who are not loyal.

“There is no crack in government; we are working together. The dissolution was done in consultation with the leadership of PDP in the state,’’ Wike said.

According to him, his administration will work with those who are loyal while those who are not loyal will be dropped.

“Those who are not loyal will be shown the way out, those who are loyal will come back. When you are going into another dispensation, you have to put things in order,” Wike said.

The governor, who also assured that his administration would continue to deliver on its electoral promises to the people, commended Bipi for his unwavering loyalty at all times.

“When people never gave us hope, Evans Bipi was reliable; Bipi is a very loyal and committed person,” he said.

Ortom did not write to Wike -Tahav Agerzua

Special Adviser to Benue state governor on Media and ICT, Mr Tahav Agerzua has refuted online reports in some mediums that Governor Samuel Ortom wrote an Apology letter to his Rivers state counter part,Barr Nyesom Wike .In a reply he made on Facebook to a post (HERE)  which  was published by  an online news medium ( Nigerian Concord), Agerzua described the letter as False,In his words

"I state categorically that Ortom did not write to Wike on any topic whatsoever as there was no basis for such"

The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom and his Rivers state counterpart had been on each other’s throat in the last one week and not yet to shield swords.Wike, last week, called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on Benue State over killings and destruction of property in the state.He further called on Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to investigate the Paris Club refund to Benue State, accusing Ortom of not meeting the yearnings of his people.Ortom had replied to the calls stating that the killings in Rivers were far more than the ones in Benue and that Wike was using the Benue issue to divert attention from his failure in governance.