The apex socio-political body for the South-South geopolitical zone, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), says it is studying the situation in Rivers State following the declaration of a state of emergency by President Bola Tinubu, and would soon come up with its position.
A statement by PANDEF’s spokesman, Chief Obiuwevbi Ominimini, read: ‘’PANDEF is seriously alarmed by the state of emergency declared in Rivers State due to a crisis that is ordinarily avoidable. We are, therefore, studying the situation and we shall soon come up with Pandef’s position.”
Also, Amaebi Clarkson, the former spokesman of the Movement for the Survival of Ijaw Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND), described the imposition of a state of emergency as being in bad faith.
“I am sure the governor would challenge the constitutionality or legality of the state of emergency. But politically, the emergency is in bad faith and obviously, the execution of a well-oiled script hatched in furtherance of the 2027 election.
“The president did not act like a president of the entire nation, but rather he took sides with his minister to punish the governor and left out any punishment to his appointee. He executed the plan of Wike.
“Firstly, Wike goaded the Ijaw by going to their homeland to provoke them, but he did get the needed reaction.
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“Then the next day, there was an explosion in an oil facility, and shortly before the broadcast, there was another explosion, which he hinged upon as one of the core reasons for the declaration,” he said.
Similarly, the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide (IYC), has condemned the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, describing it as a clear “case of oppression and intimidation of Ijaw people.”
Spokesman of IYC, Amb. Binebai Princewill, said: “We condemn the state of emergency declared in Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu, the reason being that we have states that have been boiling and grappling with insurgency; Boko Haram and herdsmen have held sway, perhaps, because it is Ijaw matter.
“We see it as a case of oppression and intimidation meted out on the Ijaw people and the people of Rivers State in particular, and for the man who fuelled the whole crisis—nothing has been done or said about him.”