The Central Zone Chairman of the Movement for the Survival of Ijaw Ethnic Nationalities in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND), Comrade Patrick Zidougha has condemned the unwarranted inflammatory attacks on the Ijaws by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, and the emergency rule in Rivers State.
Comrade Zidougha made the condemnation, while fielding questions from newsmen in his office in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, over President Tinubu’s proclamation of emergency rule in Rivers State.
He said Wike has never been loyal to a cause, but is only interested in what he will grab, adding that the minister is the cause of the full brown crisis in the oil rich state in the Niger Delta.
Comrade Zidougha said it is very demeaning and unbecoming of Wike to call Ijaws as minority of the minorities in the Niger Delta, and are incapable of producing a governor in Delta, Edo, Rivers, Akwa Ibom States, except in Bayelsa State which is an Ijaw homogeneous state.
The Niger Delta activist challenged Wike to tell Nigerians his political ideology, and where he belongs in the present political dispensation.
He condemned Wike for playing the role of destroyer, rather than being an agent keen on building and leaving behind indelible footprints on the sands of time.
Comrade Zidougha reminded Wike of the frontal role the Ijaws played in the creation of Rivers State, resulting in Alfred Diete Spiff becoming the first military administrator of the state, followed by Chief Melford Okilo as the first civilian governor, and Chief Ada George, all Ijaws that ruled the old Rivers State.
Also, he said Ijaws were appointed as military administrators of other states, during the military era, which is a pointer to the formidable nature of the Ijaws.
He described Wike as someone who allows his current position, to becloud his judgement and denigrating people who contributed to his meteoric rise in politics, warning him not to dare the Ijaws.
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When asked on the imposition of emergency rule in Rivers State by President Tinubu, the MOSIEND zonal chairman, described it is as a well -rehearsed plot to provoke the Ijaws as there is no provision in the 1979 constitution for the president to suspend an elected governor and state lawmakers.
He advised the Ijaws to react to the situation with caution, as there is a grand plot to pick up Ijaw leaders on trump up charges
Comrade Zidougha further described the emergency rule imposed on Rivers State as nothing but an oppression on the Ijaws, and a way of testing the waters to probably extend same to Bayelsa State, just to silence the opposition controlled states ahead the 2027 general elections.
He expressed displeasure over President Tinubu absolving Wike of the ignominious role he has played in fueling the crisis in Rivers State, and wondered why the president is only blaming the governor.
