•Wike and Fubara
There is palpable tension in Rivers State and other parts of the Niger Delta region as speculations of plans by some powerful forces to foist emergency rule in the oil-rich state heightened at the weekend.
It was reliably gathered that the new fear was occasioned by the raging acrimony between the camps of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike and Governor Siminalayi of Rivers State over sundry issues, reports Sunday Sun.
The tension is brewing even as some elders and leaders of thought, including former Rivers governors, are making concerted efforts to broker peace and avert further escalation of the feud and the attendant negative impact on peace in the entire Niger Delta region.
A highly placed source in the affairs of the Niger Delta region told our correspondent that the two camps are currently enmeshed in fresh round of claims and counter-claims over those alleged to be the masterminds of the rumoured mounting of pressure on higher authorities to initiate moves that could lead to an imposition of an emergency rule in Rivers State.
However, the source said that the leadership of the country’s security services and intelligence unit were averse to the alleged idea of an emergency rule in the state.
Also, some groups are already threatening that the ongoing feud could lead to a resurgence of militancy in creeks in the state.
Checks revealed that the various interests in the region are trading allegations and counter-allegations, accusing those they called Abuja politicians of plotting the touted declaration of emergency rule in Rivers State.
Leaders in the region told this paper that the speculations have triggered disquiet among their rank and file and the militant groups in the Niger Delta region, saying that it was a similar situation that led to threat to security in the region that festered and created serious economic damage before the administration of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua administration came up with the remedy of amnesty programme for the militants.
Under the scheme, they said, hordes of militants were encouraged to lay down their arms, undergo reintegration through skill acquisition and further academic studies at home and abroad.
“This has led to restoration of peace and stability in the region with Nigeria regaining lost grounds in terms of improved crude oil production, export and foreign revenue inflow.
“Years of militancy in the region had caused a colossal damage to infrastructure and impeded the operations of major oil firms in our area,” they said.
According to multiple sources, many stakeholders in Rivers State and parts of the region have held series of meetings in the last few days to address the frightening dimensions that the crisis between the Wike and Fubara’s camps has assumed coupled with the agitations by groups and individuals on the fragile peace in the region.
It would be recalled that on the penultimate Thursday, 27 members of the state House of Assembly elected on the ticket of the governing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) amid the perceived plot to initiate an impeachment process against the governor.
Also, the state government last Monday demolished the state House of Assembly building, following what the government called the compromised integrity of the structure following the burning of parts of the building in October. While many believed that the state government intentionally set the assembly complex on fire, others said it was the handiwork of arsonists. During the week also about seven state commissioners resigned their appointments.
President Bola Tinubu had intervened in the simmering crisis at the initial stage when both camps engaged in altercations following the leadership tussle that broke out in the state House of Assembly.
But it was gathered the president has tactically avoided making any categorical statement on the crisis in spite of sustained calls by leaders and groups from the region for him to weigh in heavily on the gladiators to end the crisis.
The situation has led to prominent persons and leaders of pro-Niger Delta organisations putting fresh pressure on him to avoid delay in allowing normalcy to subsist.
But the federal government recently washed off its hands from the Rivers State crisis.
Yet, the President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), Prof Benjamin Okaba, is still worried about what he considered to be the refusal by President Tinubu to stop the festering political crisis in Rivers.
Okaba claimed: “We are already angered that the government of President Bola Tinubu has marginalised the Ijaw people. In Delta State, where three persons were picked for a federal appointment, none is from the Ijaw nation.
“Meanwhile, the Ijaws are the most economically viable in that state. We are noting all of these.
“As we speak, our people are so angered; our people are so frustrated to the extent that we can no longer guarantee if things continue in this way, the safety of the oil installations in Ijaw land and our region.
“Since 1958, Nigeria has been surviving on the oil that comes from Ijaw land. Today, we are crying about marginalisation; we call it environmental degradation.
“The Ijaw nation is most affected when you talk of climate change and all that. But daily, we are treated as if we are not humans. This must stop.”
