Inside Wike/Atiku supporters’ politics of bitterness

Political attacks have put Rivers State on edge as supporters of Governor Nyesome Wike and those of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) slug it out in a supremacy battle.

Since the political rift between Atiku, Wike, and his G-5 team has defied reconciliation moves, the supporters of the duo in the oil-rich Rivers State have been maintaining a cat-and-dog relationship.

Wike fell out with Atiku shortly after the presidential primaries, when the latter emerged as the PDP’s presidential candidate. Wike’s quest to get the party’s vice presidential ticket was fruitless, as Atiku picked the Delta State governor instead.

Angered by the development, Wike teamed up with four other governors to rebel against the party, insisting on the resignation of the PDP’s National Chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, as a condition for a truce.

Wike had made it clear that he will not support Atiku nor campaign for him in the state. Atiku’s supporters are alleging that they have been persecuted in the state.

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Dr Abiye Sekibo, a former transportation minister and director of the PDP Campaign Management Committee in Rivers State, alleged that their members had been attacked on several occasions by thugs suspected to be working for Wike.

Mr Rhino Owhorkire, an executive of the Peoples Democratic Presidential Campaign Council in Rivers State, was allegedly shot by gunmen suspected to be political thugs.

Owhorkire, who is the Director for Youths Mobilization in the PDP presidential campaign council, was allegedly shot while returning home in Aluu, Ikwerre LGA of the state.

This came barely a month after the victim was allegedly kidnapped and forced to denounce his support for Atiku.

In November, Owhorkire was seen in a viral video in a cave-like location denouncing support for Atiku under duress.

Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Okon Effiong, had ordered an investigation into the matter.

The command arrested 12 people suspected of having taken part in the attack on supporters of Atiku in the state.

Effiong announced the arrest of the suspects during a recent meeting with political parties and their candidates in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

Controversy trails attack on Lee Maeba’s residence

The invasion of the Port Harcourt residence of Senator Lee Maeba, a strong supporter of Atiku, by suspected thugs has become a matter of controversy between the camps of Atiku and Wike.

Many thugs were said to have invaded the Port Harcourt GRA residence of Senator Lee Maeba last month and destroyed his cars.

Maeba said he was being persecuted because of his support for Atiku. He also stated that the certificate of occupancy of his Port Harcourt residence was revoked by the state government.

But the Rivers State Government has dismissed the attack on Meaba’s house as stage-managed theatrics to stir political sentiment.

Governor Wike has since exonerated himself and his supporters over the attack.

He said in his entire political journey, the use of violence has never been part of the measures adopted to attain his political goals.

The state commissioner for Information and Communication, Alagbo Chris Finebone, said the state government has seen isolated reports suggesting that some people were purportedly being physically molested for political reasons.

He said security agencies must exercise the highest level of diligence, discreetness and carefulness in their work to sift the wheat from the chaff to arrive at a credible conclusion.

Finebone said it is not strange to find politicians staging high-level melodrama to either cover up their tracks or muddle up the waters to achieve a preconceived narrative aimed at hoodwinking the public for political reasons, especially at a time like this.

Also, the chairman, publicity and communications for the PDP Campaign Council, Hon. Ogbonna Nwuke, said the essence of the planned attack was to create panic and an atmosphere of fear and terror in the state.

The Director of the Rivers State Campaign Management Committee of the PDP Campaign Council, Dr Abiye Sekibo, has called on security agencies to investigate the series of attacks on their members and provide them with security.

Chronicling attacks on Atiku’s supporters, he appealed for calm and called for a thorough investigation.

He noted that the attacks, threats to life, and destruction of properties of people supporting Atiku in Rivers State, by thugs sponsored by certain individuals, seeking to instil fear in law-abiding citizens of Rivers State, were increasingly becoming unbearable, and required urgent and unrelenting professional intervention of the police and all other security agencies.

He pointed out that, given the overwhelming video evidence of the armed attack against Rhino and his cousin, the verdict of the commissioner of police would not be that they masterminded an assassination attempt on themselves, “just as he erroneously claimed in the case of the distinguished Senator Lee Maeba.”