Arson In Rivers LGAs: Panic In Wike’s Camp

Some politicians in the camp of the FCT minister are already jittery, as the panel that probe the recent arson in some local government secretariats in the state turned in their report, with the governor, Sim Fubara promising to follow all legal steps to deal with those recommended for punishment.

While receiving the panel’s report on Tuesday, Fubara said “we are not going to be part of any system that would encourage any destruction in this State. And for that reason, we had to inaugurate this commission, so that this commission should look into the remote and immediate causes of this problem.

“And I believe that the recommendations of this commission, with the help of God and the support of everyone, we will make sure that we implement the recommendations. We are going to take it to the next stage.

“The report will be presented to the Executive Council, and there, we will surely come out with the White paper and with the White Paper. I can assure you, we are going to follow it to the end. Nobody is above the law, including me. So, provided what we are doing is within the confines of the law, we will do it with the help of every one.”

In an apparent reference to what happened at Isiokpo, headquarters of Ikwerre LGA, Fubara said it was worrisome that a politician who used public funds to build would watch as the same building goes in flames.

He said his administration would neither tolerate nor allow such level of violence in the state anymore because it was not profitable or productive.

“As a government, we will act promptly and decisively on the recommendations, release a white paper and ensure that those responsible for the heinous acts face the full weight of the law. Rivers State deserves better and we will not tolerate actions that threaten our collective progress.”

According to him,  before 2014, a group of persons had ran wide recklessly in the State, burning down court buildings. He noted that it is such persons, who had recently surfaced with their destructive tendencies, and have extended the violence to local government councils, killing people and destroying government property.

He wondered why somebody will spend so much money to build a structure intended to last as legacy of the administration but would eventually be part of its destruction in the name of politics. “I make bold to say it, I have never been and will never be a party to anything that will bring shame, disgrace, destruction to our dear State.

“It is our State. If it is well with us, it will be well with everybody. As a matter of fact, why should I encourage destruction, when I know that when you finish spoiling things, you still need money to rebuild them.

“I am an accountant, I know the importance of how we can manage money. Rather than spoil, you should use that money to do a new thing for the State. So, I am going to ensure that we put a stop to that level of violence or such unreasonable violence. I call it unreasonable violence because it doesn’t mean anything in politics.

“Politics is a business of interest. There is no permanent friend, no permanent enemy. Some persons who were not even in our support, today, they are here following us because their interest is the most important thing.

“Likewise tomorrow, if the interest changes, they will also go their different ways. So, why burn down the house?”

Chairman of the 7-member Judicial Commission of Inquiry, Justice Ibiwengi Roseline Minakiri, said they had put their findings into four volumes, including the recommendations, saying “we have here four volumes of the report. We have the memoranda, which is the memoranda we got after we made our publications.

“We also have the exhibits that came with the memoranda. We have the proceedings and the records. At the end of the day, we came up with the main report.”