Declare state of emergency in Rivers State fast, APC urges FG
..Says ‘We’re at war’
By Amaka Agbu
Rivers State political crisis now assumes the state of a bottomless pit as the state’s main opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has strongly called upon the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in the state as a matter of urgency.
In a press conference organized by the party, Chief Tony Okocha, Chairman of the caretaker committee of the party in Rivers, said that the state “is at war” as the state governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, and security agencies in the state had become “helpless”.
According to Okocha the federal government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu needed to “act fast” in Rivers to stop the violence which erupted in the state on Tuesday following the decision of some former LGA chairmen to continue in office after their tenure expired on June 17.
READ ALSO: President Tinubu congratulates governor Sheriff…
Okocha said that “the governor is helpless, the police are helpless,” adding that the state of helplessness had necessitated the call for a state of emergency in the oil-rich state.
“Therefore”, he said, “the APC in Rivers State is calling for a state of emergency in the state as a way of taming the mayhem, and the upsurge that is going on in the state. I call on the federal government to act fast in this regard.”
Okocha who blamed the State Governor for the unrest, said “the state is at war, and the only way for residents to live in peace, is for the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in the state.”
Okocha blamed Governor Fubara for the unrest, saying that the only way to restore peace in the state was for the FG to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State.
“We are at war in Rivers state, and because the governor is unteachable, APC Rivers State is calling for a state of emergency in Rivers state so that me and you can have peace in this state” he said.
The party’s call on the Federal government came on the heels of the swearing in of Caretaker Committee Chairmen for the 23 Local Government Areas of the state following the expiration of their tenure and the violence that erupted in the state on Tuesday as Ijaw youths protested against the decision of the past Chairmen to elongate their tenure.
