Rivers State Government says, the blood of innocent Rivers people who died during the presidential election in Rivers State are in the hands of the Transport Minister Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi no matter how much he sheds crocodile tears.
The State Commissioner for Information and Communications Barr Emma Okah said this in a press statement in reaction to the post-election media briefing today by the Minister of Transport in Abuja.
According Okah, the Transportation Minister is notorious as a purveyor of violence and since 2015 he has not been able to win one single election without resort to violence and use of security agencies. That is why, he moves about with a long convoy of soldiers.
Nigerians cannot forget in a hurry that right in the presence of President Muhammadu Buhari during the APC Presidential Campaign Rally in Port Harcourt, the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi threatened to kill Rivers people in order to ensure the Presidential Election of February 23, 2019 is rigged in favour of his party.
Amaechi made good his threat on Saturday 23 , 2019 when he worked with compromised security agencies and hired armed thugs to unleash violence on Rivers State. In the process, the Minister’s game plan caused the death of over 30 Persons. These killings were confirmed by INEC Electoral Officers who indicted soldiers and the APC for the violence and snatching of electoral materials during the Presidential and National Assembly elections. Amaechi should be held to account for these crimes against Rivers people.
It is unfortunate that the Minister of Transportation who has sponsored the killing of Rivers people during the Presidential and National Assembly elections will rush to Abuja to lie against Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike who promotes peaceful electioneering and insists that the votes of the people must count.
After killing Rivers people, especially PDP members, the Minister of Transportation is struggling to divert attention of the public by claiming that those killed are members of the APC. This is a known trick of the failed Minister. Each time he orders the deaths of Rivers people, he rushes to Abuja to lie.
The killings by Amaechi and security agencies during the last Presidential and National Assembly elections are similar to the killings that they orchestrated during the rerun elections. Amaechi is involved in the promotion of politics of violence simply because the APC is not on ground in Rivers State and the party cannot win a free and fair elections in the state.
It is unfortunate that after killing Rivers people to promote APC during the last Presidential and National Assembly elections, Amaechi plans to make political capital from the deaths sanctioned by him. This is shameful and must be condemned.
For the avoidance of doubt, Governor Wike is a man of peace. A promoter of peaceful and credible elections who insists that the votes of Rivers people must count. The people of Rivers State will never allow the Minister of Transportation to rig elections in the state. The votes of the people must count.
Governor Wike runs an accountable and transparent administration. It is the best in terms of projects delivery and state-wide development. Nobody expects Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi to praise Governor Wike, given that he plays politics with everything and Gov Wike cannot allow him instal any of his boys as governor.
The Rivers State Neighbourhood Safety Corps Agency is a creation of the law. It was fashioned alongside the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps Agency which is still functional. It is a agency established to support security agencies with credible intelligence to fight crime. There are Neighbourhood Security organisations in Anambra, Kogi, Nasarawa, Edo, Bayelsa, Lagos, Kano States, etc. It is embarrassing that Amaechi worked with the security agencies to frustrate the setting up of the Neighbourhood Safety Corps Agency. This shows that Amaechi is simply anti-Rivers.
We call on President Muhammadu Buhari to order the arrest of Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi for sponsoring the violence and killing of Rivers people during the Presidential and National Assembly elections. The President witnessed the threat by the embattled Minister of Transportation and we urge him to act in the interest of Rivers people.
