Soni Daniel, Regional Editor,
North, Chris Ochayi Northern youths,
yesterday, took issue up
with the Inspector General
of Police and the
Presidency, asking them to
tender a public apology to the four northern
governors, who were
attacked by political thugs
opposed to the Rivers State
Governor, Rotimi Amaechi,
last week as well as threaten reprisal attack. It will be recalled that some
riotous youths suspected
to have been sponsored,
pelted stones on the covey
of Amaechi and his visiting
colleagues from Jigawa, Niger, Kano and Adamwa
states, damaging some
vehicles in the process. They placard-bearing
elements also asked the
visitors to leave the state,
as they were not welcome. But in their first reaction to
the development, northern
youths demanded an
urgent sack of the Rivers
Police Commissioner for
turning a blind eye to the assault on the five
governors while in Rivers
State. The youths under the aegis
of Arewa Youth Forum and
Northern Youth Congress
noted with regrets that the
attack of their governors
in Port Harcourt, which was premeditated, could
lead to a North-South
conflict if not well handled. The National President of
the Arewa Youths Forum,
Alhaji Gambo Gujungu,
described the attack on the
four northern governors
by the sponsored Rivers politicians as an assault on
the people of the region
and an attempt to provoke
a north-south crisis. Gujungu demanded that
the CP who said he was on
top of the situation in
Rivers State and the
Inspector General of Police
should explain to the nation why some thugs
should be allowed to
descend on visiting
governors all in a bid to
protect the interest of a
faction in the Rivers crisis. “It is the view of AYF that
the attack on the four
visiting northern
governors and Amaechi
was premeditated and
targeted as humiliating them so as to provoke a
North-South conflict so as
to pave the way for the
President, who is an
interested party in the
crisis, to declare a state of emergency in the state. “We therefore, demand an
open apology from all the
actors, who set out to
inflict bodily injury on our
sons during their
innocuous visit to Rivers State. Failure to do so, we
might be compelled to
confront top-ranking
officials of the government
we consider as being
‘unfriendly’ to the north. The group asked the
Presidency to take urgent
steps to end the crisis in
Rivers State, as it would
not do him or those he
considers as his enemies any good at the end of the
day. On his part, the National
Coordinator of the NYC,
Abdulmumini Tijani, asked
the Presidency to allow
Amaechi to perform his
functions as the duly elected chairman of the NGF
without and orchestrated
intimidation harassment. Tijani warned the Plateau
State Governor, Da jang,
who is trying to usurp the
seat from Amaechi through
the backdoor, to desist
forthwith from parading himself as the NGF leader,
so as to save the nation
avoidable embarrassment. The group warned that all
the elements, who have
elected to persecute the
Rivers State Governor
Amaechi to desist from
such action or be ready to face the wrath of the
Nigerian people. The NYC asked the
controversial Rivers CP,
Mbu Joseph Mbu, to
urgently resign from his
office for taking side in the
crisis and denting the image of the police force in
the process. “ For Mbu’s admitted
nonchalance, negligence of
duty and total complicity in
the crimes perpetrated
against the governor of
Rivers State, the state House of Assembly and the
Federal Republic of Nigeria,
the CP should resign from
office forthwith. “In the event that he Mbu
remains adamant and
refuses to resign, we call
on the IG to sack him and
subject him to thorough
investigation. The northern group also
called on the five
lawmakers in the Rivers
State House of Assembly
who attempted to impeach
the Speaker for pecuniary reasons to be recalled and
be prosecuted for fighting
and brutality. “They said, “President
Goodluck Jonathan should
break his silence; condemn
these desterdaly acts of
brigandage being visited
on the good person of the governor of the state and
the people and to deal with
the security breaches in
Rivers State. “The Nigeria Police should
tender an unreserved
apology to the four
Northern governors for
permitting the breakdown
of law and order, which led to the attacks on the
governors. “In view of the fact the
Minister of State for
Education, Mr. Nyesom
Wike, has diverted his from
minding his duty and
concentrated his efforts on the local Rivers politics
while the entirty of the
educational sector has
been brought to a grinding
halt, he should resign
forthwith,” NYC demanded. But Wike fired back at the
group, saying that they
were ignorant of his role as
a Minister of State for
Education, questioning
what their interest was in Rivers politics. Accusing them of being
sponsored by politicians,
the Minister asked them to
desist from toying with his
name, as he had done his
best to resolve the ASUP strike and was talking with
ASUU to ensure the
resumption of lectures in
the universities across the
country.
“If these people have nothing to do, they should
stop moving about and
insulting people who are
working for the country,”
Wike said.

what is your take on dat.. Front page pls

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