The village Head /Chieftaincy of Ngo Town, HRH King ( Dr) Ujile Dogood Nigere has urged the security agencies to ensure peace in Ngo Town during the burial of late Chief J W Okuruket .
King Ngere who said this at a media briefing in Port Harcourt also described as an affront to the government, attempts by some persons to shut down activities in the community during the burial.
He said it is only the Rivers State Government and the Andoni Local Government Council that are legally entitled to shut down activities acting on intelligence report.
“For the purpose of clarity, it is only the Executive Governor of Rivers State that has the statutory powers to declare curfew or restrictions of movement in any part of the State in line with relevant sections of extant Executive Order and not an individual or group of persons or families”
According to the traditional ruler, his attention was drawn to a malicious inciting and provocative publication authored by an indigene of Ngo where he ordered restrictions of movement, closure of Ngo main market and ban on the conducts of burials by or any form of ceremonies in Ngo, stressing that such an order is not only barbaric but primitive and draconian
“But it is clearly an invitation to chaos and anarchy with potential to trigger communal crisis in Ngo Town”
The village Head /Chieftaincy of Ngo further said Ngo being the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area is made up of several families with rights and privileges as granted them by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In his words “in my capacity as the village head of Ngo and the custodian of the customs and traditions of my people,I reiterate that such order of shutting down business activities and restriction of people’s movement is unknown in Ngo Town and non-existent even as a bye law in Andoni Local Government Area
He further said that the late chief to be buried was a grand son of the Tailbama family of the Egweoke Royal family, adding “as the village head of Ngo, I am yet to be notified of the death and burial of our grandson and indeed my bossom friend
‘Inspite of the non notification of his death and burial, I hereby call on the good people of Ngo to come out enmess to attend the burial ceremony and pay our last respect to our son as he journeys to join our ancestors”.
King Ngere also used the occasion to commend and appreciate Governor Siminalayi Fubara for his exemplary leadership, peaceful disposition and developmental strides in Rivers State.
He also called on the security agencies to call those involved in the shut down order for questioning.