Nigerians have unsuccessfully tried to make sense of the series of reports that trailed the tragic shooting of Senator Magnus Abe during the failed rally of the Save Rivers Movementh. Most incongruent, of course, was the actual source of the bullets that felled the senator. While the Rivers State Police command have denied complicity in the matter, the All Progressives Congress (APC), at which instance the SRM held its rally, insists the police under the leadership of Mbu Joseph Mbu has a case to answer. In an interview, Hon. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, Chairman of APC in Rivers State, reconstructs the events that led to the tragedy, the fate of the victim, who is now recuperating in a London hospital among other issues.
Excerpts Below:
You are now in the APC, what is the major attraction in the party for you that PDP does not have?
The major attraction in APC for me is that I can speak my mind on issues the way I see fit. I see APC as a party that allows freedom of speech, where one’s comments are not given a thousand meanings or misconstrued to such a dangerous proportion, as to label one an enemy of the state. APC looks to me a place of succour for aggrieved, maltreated, deprived and oppressed progressives, who are sick and tired of PDP’s lifestyle of falsehood and deceit. APC is party of like minds, who are disgusted with what is happening at the centre and are, for once, putting aside such divisive tendencies of religion, party associations, tribe, etc., to rescue Nigeria from the grips of dark forces, threatening to push it into the abyss of oblivion.
APC is party of members who are fighting everyday to stop the imminent collapse of Nigeria’s fledgling democracy. I, therefore, found it attractive because it provides the perfect platform for me to actualise my dreams for my people. And fortunately for me, my personal ideology of what a political association should be agrees with the manifesto of the All Progressives Congress (APC). That was another major attraction for me because it contains programmes, welfarist, people-oriented programmes tailor-made for the Nigeria of today, and I have no doubts whatsoever that those programmes will surely move Nigeria forward if allowed to be practised.
You joined APC not even anticipating that Governor Amaechi who was then in PDP would later join. Did you have any inkling he was going to join the APC?
No. Governor Chibuike Amaechi had no inkling he would join the APC. And for the records, I joined the APC far ahead of him and everybody for that matter, purely on grounds of personal conviction not know-ing that even fate was going to play a hand in the whole affair. At the time I joined the APC, I was doing so as a free moral agent, not induced by any other thing except personal conviction that I would fare well in a party that allowed free expression and equal opportunities for one to actualise his political dreams and aspirations. There was no way I could have ever envisaged that a sitting PDP governor, who ostensibly had everything going for him would be motivated to consider an option, such as APC. I merely see it as fate at work. I see the coming of Governor Amaechi into the APC as an act of God.
To me, I see it as a pleasant re – union of old friends. Now, what in your opinion is the reason for Amaechi’s decision to dump the PDP? It’s basically the same reason anyone, not just Amaechi, would want to dump the PDP. Just like me, he felt unwanted, rejected, humiliated, oppressed and harassed in the PDP and so decided to join the APC to be free. The governor has been quite painstaking while briefing River people on his reasons for leaving the PDP. First and foremost, as governor he felt that the impunity in the PDP was impacting negatively on his administration in Rivers State.
He was not allowed to do certain things he yearned to do for Rivers people. That impunity graduated into the infamous ceding of oil wells to our neighbouring states. He also talked about the refusal of the Federal Government to approve the implementation of some World Bank projects due to the state. He also felt very bad that there was virtually no Federal Government presence in the state in terms of project, and the present administration had been very unfair to Rivers State. I think he was also quite perturbed by the attitude of the FG which was tending towards frustrating the efforts of his government to deliver the dividends of democracy to his people. The aggregate summary of what Amaechi was passing through was congruent with similar fears I had expressed, though on a less elaborate scale previously, that there was so much of impunity, that there was so much of false-hood in the PDP.
Could you let us know some specific grievance the governor had, and which were expressed and, were not listened to?
One of the specific grievances Governo Amaechi fought vigorously was the issue of the ceding of the oil wells to some other states. But the one I should say got him so angry was that the so-called monies President Goodluck Jonathan promised him would be kept in an Escro account until the oil well issue was resolved had later been unilaterally given to Bayelsa State. The same thing also happened in the case of Rivers versus Akwa Ibom State. The President had also done a U-turn. This is in spite of the fact that Rivers State won the case in court. Then, the other nauseating issue was the consistent harassment he was receiving from Patience, the wife of the president and the president himself.
You are aware of the problem that arose in Okrika where the wife of the president broke protocol by snatching the micro-phone from Governor Amaechi while he was still making a speech in full glare of the public over a perceived grievance. The bad blood since engendered has somewhat spiraled into more unsavoury situations, which has further strained the hitherto cordial relationship between the governor and the president. Perhaps, the present crisis could have been contained were the president less disposed towards taking sides with his wife. I am aware that a lot of people attempted to wade into the dispute but had been frustrated by the attitude of the president and his wife. Side by side with this is the unsetting attitude of the police commissioner in Rivers State, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu, who appears to be dancing to the music being played for him from very powerful quarters. He insists the sitting governor of a state, the chief security officer of a state must obtain permission from him to hold a function.
It is quite very unfortunate, I must say. I guess these issues more than any other finally force Amaechi to reconsider his alliance and allegiance to the PDP, a party that tries to consume its own. If you also add these injustices to the impunity with which a list of PDP delegates were manufactured on the eve of a convention in Abuja without the inputs of the governor, then you know some-body obviously was following a script written from very powerful quarters in government. If you recall, all the states that experienced what I refer to as a slight engineered the famous walk out saga at the Eagles Square sometime in 2013. If you remember also, that was the day the so called new PDP was born. Again, you also recall vividly what transpired at the Governor’s Forum where 16 votes for Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State be-came superior to Gov. Amaechi’s 19. The confusion created by this obvious anomaly would later pave the way for the defection of these very five governors. And I must say this has led to massive defections everywhere else across Nigeria, a situation I guess PDP never envisaged.
But astute political watchers think what is happening is all because of the 2015 General elections and that of Amaechi’s rising profile. Do you share this view?
I don’t think it is about Governor Amae-chi’s rising profile. Perhaps. But there ha never been anything even then to show that Amaechi had any presidential ambition. What I know is that one day, on the streets of Jigawa State, we were told that poster with Amaechi’s photograph was being displayed side by side with Governor Sule Lamido’s as intending presidential and vice – presidential candidates. I was told that it infuriated the president. But my reaction was to laugh because I thought the president should thoroughly have investigated the matter before getting all worked up. I thought the president should have known right away that fifth columnists were at work. And despite Amaechi’s repeated denials, it was obvious the president had already taken a stand and could no longer be shaken from his position.
So, I think Patience Jonathan’s adventurism in Rivers State rise to what we are today witnessing in Rivers State. Unfortunately, certain persons like Nyesom Wike, the supervising minister for education appears to be profiting from this crisis to further his governorship ambition. Now, can a man’s hypocrisy be more evident than in this? For those who did not know, Wike served under the Amaechi’s government as Chief of Staff before being made a minister. He was the chief architect of the Okrika waterside wahala that caused the frictions between the president’s wife and the governor. You would wonder that a man who did nothing when the crisis was brewing is suddenly the messiah now he is far away in Abuja fighting a cause h created.
In the last few weeks, the situation has been further heightened by the unfortunate shooting of Senator Magnus Abe during a rally in the state. What really happened?
The Save Rivers Movement (SRM) had applied to the police in the state for police protection to hold their rally that fateful Sunday. And as usual, the police did not write to say they would or would not provide any form of security cover for the event. We always take it for granted that they will be there to discharge their statutory duties of providing security for the event. Let me make it clearer. There is no law that forbids any peaceful gathering in Nigeria. There is also no law that makes it mandatory for anyone or group to first of all get police permission to hold a gathering. By writing to seek “police protection” to hold an event, you are only informing them formally so that they can be aware that such a meeting is ongoing, just in case.
Just like, you wouldn’t, for instance, ask a chance to get a permit to hold a crusade, a music concert or wedding ceremony. Or let me stretch it a bit; if communities want to gather at the town square or hall to hold a gathering. I could go on and on but suffice it to say that because of the bias or should I say the hidden agenda of the police, they did not say anything, only for them to get to the venue of the proposed rally early Sunday morning – as early as 5.30am to start demolishing structures already erected for the rally. They started tear gassing anyone and everyone they thought was related to the event one way or another. There was also some sporadic shooting by the police.
When Senator Magnus Abe got wind of the mayhem, he decided to go see for himself. He was also tear gassed and shot at. It was a black Sunday in Rivers. It was so sad because as for the police command in the state, lives of the people, including that of a serving senator of the Fed