The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike had declared that the devastating attack on Rivers State Judiciary, last Friday, was an attempt by the police and the APC to overthrow the Rivers State Government.
\nThe governor spoke, last Friday, after he inspected the Rivers State High Court Complex destroyed by the police and supporters of the APC from the faction loyal to the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.
\nIt would be recalled that the APC thugs and police damaged several courtrooms, ransacked the court library, destroyed vehicles and looted nearby shops, while hundreds of expended bullets littered the premises of the state High Court Complex.
\nWike said it was unfortunate that the Nigeria Police connived with leaders of the APC to close the courts and stop it from dispensing justice to Rivers people.
\nIn a state-wide broadcast, last Friday, Wike commended Rivers youth for resisting the police and the All Progressives Congress (APC) faction loyal to the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, who planned to shut down the State High Court over a suit filed by a rival faction.
\nWike said: \u201cWe have said in many clear terms that never again will unscrupulous politicians shut our courts for business as they did three years ago, and the youth have reaffirmed that this commitment can never be in vain.
\n\u201cHowever, while we revel in today\u2019s victory over evil, we must not lower our guards. We should be prepared for more political battles in the days and months ahead, even as I urge our people to be law-abiding and avoid the temptation of taking the laws into your hands.\u201d
\nThe governor warned those whose stock in trade was to continually cause trouble, endanger the peace of the state and task the patience of the people, that there was limit to everything.
\nHe said: \u201cI wish to reassure Rivers people, once again, of our commitment to protect our democratic institutions from those who do not mean well for the progress of our state.
\n\u201cAs we continue to take our state on a path to sustainable peace and irreversible progress, may God protect us from our enemies and crown our efforts with success.\u201d
\nHe blamed the invasion of the Rivers State Judiciary on the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and a faction of the All Progressives Congress, loyal to the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi.
\n\u201cToday, 11th May, 2018, operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) invaded the State High Court Complex, Port Harcourt, blocked all entrances, and for hours, prevented judicial workers, judges, litigants and lawyers from gaining access into their offices and courtrooms to carry out their judicial duties and businesses.
\n\u201cWhile the siege lasted, organised hoodlums from a faction of the state\u2019s All Progressives Congress (APC) loyal to the Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi freely harassed innocent persons, including lawyers and destroyed public property, including private vehicles packed in the court premises.
\n\u201cThe brazen assault on the state\u2019s Judiciary was carried out by the police on the direct instructions from the said faction of the APC, which feared that the rival faction might obtain an injunction against the continuation of their highly disputed and rancorous party congresses\u201d, the governor said.
\nHe said there was a clear evidence of conspiracy by the police officers with some known political rascals to wilfully overwhelm the judiciary and thwart the course of justice.
\nThe governor said that the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) continues to lend its men and instruments to the services of opposition elements to sabotage Rivers security architecture, undermine state institutions and abuse the human rights of the people.
\nWike said: \u201cAll these are in furtherance of actualizing the ignominious political template of the APC to rig the 2019 general elections in the state and unlawfully wrest power from the people by all means.
\n\u201cWe, therefore, call on the Federal Government to investigate the circumstances that led to the invasion and assault on the state\u2019s judiciary and bring all the culprits to justice in order to stop a reoccurrence and avert a chaos orchestrated by those who seek power at all cost using the police.
\n\u201cWhere this is not done, the Federal Government should be ready to be accountable for any breakdown of law and order in Rivers State, given the readiness of the people to resist the police and defend their democratic rights to live in peace and freely elect their leaders,\u201d the governor stated.
\nThe governor said: \u201cThis is very unfortunate. Do not trivialize this invasion by saying it is just an attack by the APC on the judiciary. This is a complete coup by the Nigeria Police and the APC to overthrow the Rivers State Government.
\n\u201cWe have said it before, and we have been vindicated by this callous joint invasion of the Rivers State Judiciary\u201d, Wike asserted.
\nHe regretted that the Rivers State Police Commissioner, Zaki Ahmed decided to copy the Inspector General of Police in the exhibition of recklessness and lawlessness against an arm of government carrying out its lawful duty.
\n\u201cWe cannot continue to rely on the police to defend us. We must all stand up to defend democracy. What has happened is a sign of what APC and the police have planned.
\n\u201cAPC-led Federal Government is not prepared for election. Therefore, they want to truncate the nation\u2019s democracy. They are fomenting trouble to create an avenue for the military to take over.
\n\u201cThe APC Federal Government sponsored Senator Omo-Agege at the Federal High Court. Nobody invaded the court. This action by the police and APC is not acceptable\u201d, he said.
\nWike noted that it was the immediate past Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi who plotted the attack on the Judiciary, last Friday, on behalf of the Federal Government, pointing out that the plot was executed by a former local government chairman already standing trial for murder.
\n\u201cWe must defend ourselves and the nation\u2019s democracy. We cannot continue to rely on the police. Remember, it was the police that kidnapped a sitting governor.
\n\u201cNigerians have rejected the APC, and there is nothing anybody can do about it. Since they are unpopular, they want to truncate the nation\u2019s democracy\u201d, he stressed.
\nHe commended Rivers youth for rising in defence of their mandate by mobilising to open the courts, despite the shootings by the Nigeria Police.
\nIt would be recalled that the APC and policemen, last Friday, locked the gates of the Rivers State Judiciary in an attempt to stop the court from hearing a suit filed against the party by some aggrieved members.
\nThe governor was guided during the inspection tour of the High Court Complex by Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Adama Inyie Iyayi-Lamikanra.
\nReacting to the attack, the eight branches of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Rivers State, strongly condemned, in totality, the flagrant act of locking up the Port Harcourt High Court premises by some perceived aggrieved youth faction of a political party in the state.
\nThe NBA, in a statement signed for chairmen of all the branches of NBA in Rivers State by Omubo Victor Frank-Briggs Esq, in Port Harcourt, last Friday, indicated that the action was designed \u201cto thwart the wheel of judicial proceedings, rule of law and pervert justice over suspicion of anticipated outcome of a judicial proceeding\u201d.
\n\u201cThe Bar shall vehemently oppose any attempt by anybody and or political party to disrupt the administration of justice in Rivers State,\u201d the NBA stated.
\n\u201cWe call on the relevant authorities to see that the courts remain open, the perpetrators of this act of impunity fished out, prosecuted and justice served,\u201d the statement added.
\nMeanwhile, a governorship aspirant on the platform of the APC in Rivers State, and leader of a faction of the party in the state, Senator Magnus Abe, has commended the Judiciary in Rivers State for resisting the brazen attack and intimidation unleashed on it, last Friday, and coming out of the messy situation stronger than ever before.
\nThe senator said the Judiciary showed so much \u201ccourage to stand boldly as the last hope of the common man by granting the request of some members of APC who approached the courts in order to seek a peaceful resolution to the crises that rocked the party after the ward congresses where members who have paid for forms were wilfully excluded\u201d.
\nAbe, in a statement in Port Harcourt by his spokesperson, Parry Saroh Benson, last Friday, regretted that APC leaders could descend so low by attempting to obstruct the functions of the Judiciary and disrupt the courts from sitting through violent intimidation.
\n\u201cWe commend some members of the party who approached the courts in order to seek a peaceful resolution to the crisis that rocked the party after the ward congresses and for insisting that justice must prevail for those who were disenfranchised,\u201d the statement noted.
\n\u201cThey have done well because the absence of law is the presence of anarchy, and as Rivers people, we cannot fold our arms and allow anarchy to envelope the state,\u201d it added.
\nSimilarly, the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose has lamented the alleged destruction of the Legislative and Judicial arms by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress Federal Government, raising the alarm that \u201cdemocracy in Nigeria is under serious threat, with the constitution appearing to have been suspended\u201d.
\nThe governor said; \u201cThe once respected National Assembly and Judiciary have been so badly blackmailed such that for the first time in the history of Nigeria, functionaries of the executive arm of government now hold the two arms of government with contempt, treating them as if they do not exist. Even those who invaded the senate and took away the Mace are being protected by President Buhari and his men.\u201d
\nSpeaking through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose, who described the Legislative and Judicial arms as the pillar of democracy, said; \u201cEven when Nigeria was under military rule, our judiciary was not this ridiculed, with the government choosing which court judgment to obey and which one to ignore.\u201d
\nThe governor pointed out that; \u201cPresident Buhari\u2019s persistent refusal to obey court orders, refusal of the his men to obey summons by the National Assembly and most importantly the withdrawal of $496million from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) without approval of the National Assembly and in spite of pending court case are indications that the constitution has been suspended and Nigeria returned to full-fledged dictatorship.\u201d
\nFayose described the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki as the most subdued National Assembly leader in the history of Nigeria, saying; \u201cShould President Buhari succeeds with his second term bid, no one should bother going to the National Assembly because he will rule like a feudal lord, with general authority over other Nigerians.
\n\u201cDemocracy is endangered when the executive arm of government goes about demonizing the Judiciary as being corrupt and the National Assembly tagged as a gathering of rascals who are contributing nothing to governance. Unfortunately, that is what the Legislative and Judicial arms have suffered under this government.
\n\u201cIn disobedience to court order that they should be released, the leader of Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, and his wife, Zeenat, have been detained for more than two years without trial.
\n\u201cAlso, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) has been in detention for over two years even when many courts in Nigeria and the ECOWAS Court have ordered for his release.
\n\u201cSeveral resolutions made by the National Assembly have been ignored, including ones bothering on the welfare of Nigerians. Statutory appointments that require Senate confirmation are now being made unilaterally. Even those whose nominations were rejected by the Senate are still holding the same offices for which their nominations were rejected.
\n\u201cLovers of democracy in Nigeria should therefore be worried and the international community must intervene and prevail on the President to allow democratic institutions to function in the country,\u201d the governor said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike had declared that the devastating attack on Rivers State Judiciary, last Friday, was an attempt by the police and the APC to overthrow the Rivers State Government. The governor spoke, last Friday, after he inspected the Rivers State High Court Complex destroyed by the police and supporters of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":176381,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-176378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-front-pix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=176378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/176381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=176378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=176378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=176378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}