Wike Lauds Armed Forces Over Security

Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has praised officers and men of the Nigerian Armed Forces for their huge efforts in protecting the country.
Speaking yesterday during the Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration in Government House, Port Harcourt, Governor Wike hailed great men and women of the forces who sacrificed their lives during the Second World War as well as the Nigerian / Biafran civil war that claimed the lives of over two million Nigerians.
Wike also noted the efforts being made by soldiers in the fight against insurgency particularly the Boko Haram terrorism which has claimed several lives of soldiers and innocent civilians in the country.
He urged the Federal Government to redouble its efforts to ensure that the war against Boko Haram being defeated totally and not technically as claimed.
He called on the Federal Government to do something so as to boost the moral of the soldiers. “We don’t want technical defeat, all we want is total defeat”.
Governor Wike stressed the need for the APC- led Federal Government to focus on defeating the terrorists instead of expending so much resources fighting the National Assembly and gagging the judiciary.
He said the strength of important institutions as the judiciary and National Assembly determined the strength of the society.
Wike said: “ As we remember those who sacrificed their lives for our sake, it is our responsibility to assist the family members they left behind’.
Wike redeemed the N100million pledged by the state government last year and pledged the sum of N50million to the legionnaires in the state.
He explained that N30million out of the N50million will go to widows to embark on trading to help their various families adding that the beneficiaries would not pay any interest, while the remaining N20m would be for the running of the legion office in the state.
He regretted the crisis in the association, stressing that the fund would be deposited with the office of the Secretary to the State Government pending when the crisis would be resolved.
He further remarked that the coaster bus promised the Union by state government has also not been released because of the crisis in their fold and urged them to resolve the crisis to enable them move forward as a body.
Earlier, Rtd Major Burah Thompson, who spoke on behalf of the legionnaires in the state commended the state governor for the huge efforts the present administration is investing on the welfare of legionnaires.
Thompson assured the governor that the crisis in the association would soon be a thing of the past as election would be conducted soon to usher in a new executive body that will direct affairs of the Union.
He however appealed to the governor to release funds for payment of tuition fees for children of legionnaires on scholarship in the state.