An observer group, under the aegis of Beyond Boundaries Legacy Leadership Initiative, BBLLI, has written to the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwhistle to help bring the Rivers State Governor, Nyeson Wike to justice over the killings recorded during the March 19 re-run poll in the state.
The observer group in a letter dated March 29 by its Director of Monitoring and Evaluation, Anthony Onuya Yusuf, said Wike should be held responsible for the crises that erupted during the rerun.
BBLLI while making a case for the slain Corps Member, Samuel Okonta who was killed during the re-run demanded that Wike be investigated and taken to the International Criminal Court, ICC, in the Hague, for allegedly committing crimes against humanity.
The group in the letter said, “The unpleasant atmosphere created by stakeholders of the two major parties – the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – particularly the series of unwarranted threats by Governor Wike, no doubt are at the root of the wanton killings and destruction of property.
“We have it on record that Governor Wike, who is statutorily dutybound as the chief security officer to maintain peace, law and order in Rivers State, openly threatened violence and death to stakeholders before and during the rerun elections.
“In fact, Governor Wike was reported to have told workers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) posted to Rivers State on election duties to write their will ahead of the elections. The PDP and their acolytes were battle-ready to decapitate anyone attempting to stand as an obstacle to their victory at the polls.
“Unfortunately, Wike’s threats materialised and the rerun elections were greeted by violence, leading to numerous atrocities perpetrated against our security agencies by armed gangs believed to have been sponsored by the state government. Worthy of mention is the brutal murder in Ahoada West Local Government of a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Samuel Chukwudumebi Okonta, who served as INEC ad hoc worker with Call-Up No. RV/15B/5539.
“We are shocked that Nigerians and members of the international community, who usually cry foul and castigate our security operatives whenever they go wrong in the discharge of their duties, have kept mute instead of demanding justice for the atrocities and provocations perpetrated against security agencies.
“The slain men and officers, who laid down their lives for the service of fatherland, are not angels from heaven but responsible Nigerians with obligations to families, friends and dependants. They deserved protection and, in death, their killers ought to be brought to face the wrath of the law.
“We join other advocates of justice across the world in condemning the callousness and political opportunism exhibited by agents of the Rivers State government against humanity in the name of preventing the APC-led Federal Government from taking over power at the state level.”
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