Ogoni military invasion pitches PDP against APC again

Each time killings and violence occur in any part of Rivers State, the two rival political parties in the state, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), would take the centre-stage and blame each other, thereby confusing the populace on who the real culprits are.

Just days after the alleged killing of 26 persons in Omoku area of the state, the burning of the liaison offices of Magnus Abe and the subsequent intervention of the military leading to killings have brought the two political parties and their propaganda machinery to the forefront, thereby hiding the real offenders.

Abe had kicked off his senatorial rerun campaigns by asking the Ogoni people to see him as their best leg since his party (APC) was in power at the centre. As this message seemed to be catching on, Governor Nyesom Wike mobilised and visited Ogoni where he pleaded with the people to do him one favour: ‘vote out Abe’.

Abe countered by accusing the governor of sowing seeds of discord in his ethnic area and wondered why the Ikwerre-born governor had such interest in his (Abe’s) defeat, and accused the governor of inciting the Ogoni people. He had said: “That thing your mother told you, my mother told me too”.

Next, a pro-PDP ex-militant, who has been often accused of violent dispositions, came to the scene and Abe’s secretariat went in flames. Some persons were said to have died in the process. Abe cried out but asked his supporters to remain calm.

Next, the army invaded Yeghe, the hometown of the ex-militant, and some persons were killed. The PDP accused Abe of inviting soldiers to invade Ogoni but Abe denied any such, and accused the ex-militant of waging a fight against the soldiers. He also observed that the state governor had approved of the military intervention.

The governor quickly visited Yeghe communities but Abe countered that the governor chose to visit the ex-militant but did not visit APC victims of the same violence. “I am a citizen and a victim, too”.

Denying any knowledge, the governor said as chief security officer of Rivers State, he was not informed of the operation that led to loss of innocent lives of Ogoni people and residents of the area.

He accused some politicians of deliberately instigating crisis in the state to create room for the evil declaration of state of emergency plotted by enemies of Rivers People.

Charging forward, Wike declared that all those involved in the killing of innocent Ogoni people and residents of Ogoniland would be brought to justice, saying that nobody would be allowed to play politics with the lives of Rivers People.

The governor declared that the military must subject itself to civil authority. He said: “The Rivers State Government will take up this unfortunate incident with the appropriate authorities. The military must subject itself to civil authority. I am the chief security officer of this state. Before any deployment of soldiers, I should be informed, but in this case I was not aware. I will always  support  the security  agencies  in the fight against  criminals and criminality,  but  I  will never support  the killing  of  innocent persons. That is why I am here today for an on-the-spot assessment. I have seen for myself the destruction in Yeghe and the killings that took place. I went to the Mortuaries to see the corpses and the relatives of the deceased confirmed they were killed in the operation”.

The governor stated: “I have told security agencies to be careful so that they are not misled by politicians. As your governor, I have never used soldiers because I don’t need them. When I see people not in government moving around with soldiers, I am surprised.  If you are popular with your people, you have no reason to move with soldiers.”

Some relations briefed the governor on loss of relations. Bari Zikpo, a retired police officer, told the governor that his first son was killed in the ill-fated operation by the military. He said the operation claimed many others in the town.

In Bori, David Gbarazie informed the governor that he lost his brother to the military operation.

Also in Bori, the Igbo community also informed the community that the military killed some traders in front of their shops. Spokesman for the Igbo traders in Bori,  Michael Akuchi said a trader Livinus Nwafor and his brother  Kelechi Nwafor  were killed by soldiers.

The APC reacted, saying Abe was being framed up on the military action. The publicity secretary, Chris Finebone, said it had been cautious all this while, but it can now react due to what it called barrage of propaganda.

Finebone said: “It is pertinent to state that the violence that manifested in the past couple of days in Ogoni was planted, watered and nurtured by the incendiary remarks made by the Governor of Rivers State at the birthday ceremony of Lee Maeba when he [the governor] asked the Ogonis to do everything possible to ensure that Abe is stopped from winning the Rivers South-East Senatorial seat during the forthcoming rerun elections. Fired by the governor’s war cry, a group of cultists and hoodlums on the payroll of the PDP descended on Abe’s campaign liaison building in Bori and razed it down. Despite the huge loss, Abe promptly appealed to his supporters to remain calm and not to seek revenge.

The APC said the state government was also vigorously blackmailing the military by activating their stooges to occupy the airwaves condemning the military.

He went on: “Worse still, it appears that top officials of the State Government might have compromised the privileged information about the security operations by the Army, resulting in the escape of key suspects with PDP links and also exposing the military personnel to danger as they were reportedly ambushed by well-armed militants at the onset of the operation”.

The APC said it condemned attempt by some individuals, no matter how highly placed, to use misguided youths to cause disaffection amongst the Ogonis with a view to rendering the people politically unviable and irrelevant. “Who is afraid of a united Ogoni?”

This way, the facts seem lost and the culprits totally masked by political division and need to defend one’s side of the crisis.