Following the shooting incident that prevented a pro-APC rally at Bori in Khana local council of Rivers State last Sunday, the Rivers State Governor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, has advised the Ogoni to resist any attempt to invade the area again by thugs under any guise.
This is even as
the 37 defecting members of the House of Representatives have vowed not to
return to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. The governor and members of the
lower chambers of the National Assembly spoke at the rescheduled pro-Amaechi
rally organised by the Non-Governmental Agency, Save Rivers Movement, yesterday
at Bori, the headquarters of Ogoni in the state.
Amaechi told his
Ogoni supporters that while he was not a violent man and did not believe in
relying on its use to settle scores, he was not favourably disposed to people
stepping on others through the use of force.
“I came to Bori to prove to you that you don’t have to
run away from violence. If a man is chasing you with AK 47, you should carry a
machine gun, and the man will call for peace. In the Bible, the book of Isaiah
said you should allow one to offend you 70 times seven times, but I told my
priest that before it gets to twenty times, you are already dead,” the governor
said.
Amaechi,
speaking against the backdrop of the invasion by some political thugs who
invaded the area a week ago, admonished the people of the area to meet force
with force in order to prevent a repeat of the incident in which two youths
were shot.
His words: “I
want to apologise to you on behalf of Mbu and those who came to shoot here last
Sunday. From here, I’ll go to the hospital to see one of the people they shot.
Mbu said nobody was shot. I’m going there to see the person myself. As the
governor of Rivers State, I’m governor for every local government area; nobody
can stop me from coming to Khana, not those children that issued press
statements threatening that they will shoot me. I said, let me come and be
shot. This morning, several persons called me to say, don’t go and I said okay,
give me reasons why I shouldn’t go. I should send over two to three thousand
persons to Bori for them to be shot, and I won’t be there to be shot? Will that
be fair? If they are going to shoot you, they should shoot me first.”
Governor Amaechi also reminisced on past events in the
state: “I want to start this speech by thanking the Inspector General of
Police. I had to call him and I told the IG that I was going to Khana. I thank
him for sending security here. I had assured him that Rivers people are
peace-loving. But let me start by tracing the history of this government. In
2007, this territory belonged to one man called Solomon. I heard he was the
person that came to shoot here. Nobody could gather here then, even the police
couldn’t even gather here. They were being shot at. I brought the police, seven
vehicles and gave them; they were afraid. I gave them scholarships and said if
any of you die in the course of this struggle, I will sponsor your family.
I will employ
your wives. I bought nearly all the patrol vehicles, over 200 vehicles. I paid
allowances to the police. “The same people we chased away with the military are
back to our state, fuelled by a man called Mbu and his cohorts in Abuja. They
don’t mind that your lives are important. They want to sacrifice your lives
just to earn the office of the Presidency and that of governorship.
Before I came,
you lost your voice, none of you could speak, none of you could call Solomon a
criminal because you were scared, but we came and we chased him away; we shall
still chase him away.” Amaechi also took a swipe at Mbu, who recently said his
performance at his former duty post in Oyo State was applauded by the people of
the state and was awarded a chieftaincy title in recognition of this
meritorious service in the South-West state. “One thing about power is that it
is very transient; those who are using it now don’t have a good sense of
history. If they did, they should check those who abused power in the past,
where they are now.”
They failed; they don’t remember that. Let’s say that
despite all we have done for the police, we thank the Inspector General of
Police. Mbu has said that he did very well in Oyo; I have spoken with the
governor of Oyo State. He said Mbu didn’t do well. Whatever he is doing here,
he has done in a smaller scale there. Why he’s doing it, in larger scale here
is because there are very important people in Abuja that are fuelling him. If
he says it’s a lie, let him call the governor. I spoke with the governor; he is
making me say this in public. But, leave out Mbu, let us talk about the matters
I came here for. I came to Bori council on the issue of UNEP. We said be calm
and quiet. Let United Nations come and do their investigations and go home.
I will support
you from the beginning to the end. United Nations finished all they needed to
do and came back and said spend at least $1 billion in the clean up of Ogoni
and the development of Ogoni people. Have you seen the $1 billion? They want
you to vote for them. It will be a foolish man that will vote for a person who
denies you your rights.”
Politicians from the area who have served in various
offices and at different times were not spared by Amaechi in his speech.
“Your children are back again to deceive you. You have
children who have served as senators, commissioners and in various capacities.
One of your former senators said he’s very close to the President; ask him,
what he has brought to Ogoni people,” he urged
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