By Henry Shield
Attention: Gov Wike and Nnamdi Kanu,
I write this from a place of pain . As a concerned citizen, I have listened carefully to residents of Oyigbo who have become the victims of your egos and hard heartedness. The games you play with human lives can no longer be joked with or ignored.
Nnamdi, you made a video calling on your followers to burn down police stations and kill security officers. I didn’t believe it until I watched it myself. You live in the UK where it is safe for you, but ordered and misguided armless youth to attack security posts.
This is not only insane and wicked, it defines you as a callous man without feelings or love for your followers. Your reckless statements gave rise to the current crisis in Oyigbo, Rivers State. You must take full responsibility for your misguided action.
Governor Wike, in becoming Governor of Rivers, you had people from different ethnic groups who stood and fought for you. People who didn’t know you but believed in your mandate and ability to stand for them. That you have neglected Oyigbo in the sharing of developmental projects is insensitive and unconscionable. You are not just the Governor of Rivers, you are the Leader of all residents of the state.
In times of crisis, you are the legitimate person they’ll look up to for help and succor. You failed woefully in Oyigbo by not working at identifying the culprits but placing a blanket order for people to be fished out and punished for the mayhem that occurred in the state. Similar incident had happened in other states, but we did not see this amount of executive recklessness and bitter profiling.
When I spoke to you, you sounded agitated and angry. You didn’t care that it was People’s children being treated like slaves and animals. This is not leadership. That is not expected of a Governor.
Whatever your differences, Nnamdi Kanu remains a person and a non-state fugitive who cannot exercise more powers than you. You are a Governor. A duly elected one who carries the mandate of all residents of the state. What the military is doing in Oyigbo is a crime against humanity and you are culpable. It is unacceptable.
There are elected Representatives in the community. Reach out to them. Speak with their traditional leaders. Seek peace, not because you’re weak but because you’re a Leader. Create a network of Layers to mine information in the community and inform you of every illegal activities within Oyigbo. If all governors should adopt this kind of barbaric measure to criminality in their domains, the entire country will become a slaughter’s lab. Give the people of Oyigbo developments. Show them you are their Governor.
Finally, we shall be constrained to request that the President declares a state of emergency in Rivers and take control of restoring peace and orderliness within the state, if these mindless killings of youths continue unabated. We shall also not hesitate to document this sordid development and forward our petitions to the international community.
I wish and pray fervently that this horrific situation comes to an end for the sake of innocent people losing their lives and means of livelihoods in Oyigbo.