Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has dismissed claims that he ordered the Nigerian Army to kill Igbos in Oyigbo Local Government Area, describing it as a politically motivated falsehood.
He maintained that curfew was imposed in Oyigbo to restore calm after members of proscribed Indigenous Peoples Organisations of Biafra (IPOB) killed six soldiers, four policemen and destroyed all police stations and court buildings there.
Governor Wike stated this on a live television programme in Port Harcourt monitored by our correspondent on Monday.
He said the narrative that Igbos were being killed by the military was intended to shift attention from the despicable activities of IPOB in Oyigbo, which is a boundary area adjoining Abia State.
“I know that this is not the first time, IPOB has used Oyigbo as launching ground. The security agencies are aware. IPOB added a new dimension this time. They killed 6 Army Officers and burnt one. They killed four Police Officers. They destroyed all the Police Stations and Court Buildings. What offense did we commit as a state?
“I imposed curfew to restore calm. I proscribed IPOB activities anywhere in the state. Don’t forget that the Federal Government had declared them a terrorist group. It is not the entire Igbos that believes in IPOB activities.
“So, it’s not true that I ordered the military to kill Igbos in Oyigbo. When did I become a friend to the military? So what about the Igbos living elsewhere in the state are they also being killed?”
The Governor bemoaned IPOB’s effrontery to rename a local government in the state and hoist its flag in a public school in Komkom Town.
