With the dusts yet to settle in the ill-fated rescheduled Presidential
\nElection held across the country last Saturday, more than 77 political
\nparties in Rivers State have come out to expose the ignoble army brutality
\nvisited on Rivers people, commandeered by the General Officer Commanding 6
\nDivision of the Nigerian Army, Major General Jamil Sarham.<\/p>\n
The political parties, under the aegis of the Rivers State chapter of the
\nInter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in a press briefing held in Port
\nHarcourt on Thursday, described Saturday, 23rd February, 2019 as black,
\nbloodiest and saddest day in the election history of the State as,
\naccording to them, the army decided to be overly partisan in breach of
\ntheir abiding duty to be neutral and provide security or the electoral
\nprocess.<\/p>\n
Rivers IPAC in the statement that was jointly signed by State Chairmen of
\nall 76 political parties and read by its Public Relations Officer, Comrade
\nKukang Ledum Joseph said the army action in Rivers State was in total
\ndefiance to the assurance given by the Acting Director of Defence
\nInformation, Brigadier General John Agim that the army will not be
\ndirectly involved in the 2019 General Elections process.<\/p>\n
They noted that Governor Nyesom Wike and several other stakeholders
\nrepeatedly alerted the nation on the planned partisan involvement of the
\narmy in the election process in Rivers State, adding that all these
\napparently fell into the deaf ears as GOC, Jamil Sarham flagrantly
\nfraternized with the leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in
\nRivers State to rig, snatch election materials, harass Collation Officers
\nand force them to allocate bogus results to the APC.<\/p>\n
According to them, rather than respond to these weighty allegations
\nagainst the GOC, invectives were poured on Governor Wike and PDP
\nstakeholders, calling them false alarmists crying wolf where there were
\nnone.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut alas, here we are with the disastrous consequences of the failure of
\nthe military authorities and the INEX to reprimand and call to order the
\nGOC and his soldiers of destruction that they deployed to Rivers State for
\nunlawful election duties\u201d, the statement read.<\/p>\n
It went on, \u201cWhat on earth can justify the killing of as many as 16
\nunarmed civilians by the army in a rustic community, which members were
\nbarely insisting on their participatory rights and freedoms in the face of
\nthe brazen onslaught by APC thugs to scuttle the electoral process\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Rivers IPAC further alleged that aside the brutal killing of over 18
\ninnocent civilians including an INEC ad hoc staff and an NYSC member, the
\nsoldiers prevented the general elections from holding in Akuku Toru LGA
\nand parts of Asari Toru and Degema LGAs.<\/p>\n
\u201cMajor General Jamil Sarham\u2019s soldiers also supported APC thugs to snatch
\naway election materials and prevented the elections from holding in the
\nwhole of Bonny LGA and parts of Ahoada West and Okrika LGAs\u201d, they said
\nwhile also lamenting the mayhem visited on Emohua and Ikwerre by the
\nmarauding soldiers.<\/p>\n
The over 77 political parties said it was obvious that the direct partisan
\ninvolvement of the army led to the cancellation of elections in six local
\ngovernment areas of the State, wondering the legitimacy of the results
\neventually turned in and declared by INEC for Rivers State in the face of
\nthe wanton killings, snatching of election materials and the other
\nelectoral maladies resulting from the elections across the State.<\/p>\n
The group expressed fears that by brazenly betraying the public trust, the
\narmy can no longer be trusted by the people of Rivers State to be neutral
\nin the electoral process in Rivers State, adding that even the forthcoming
\nGovernorship and Assembly elections in Rivers State is also at risk.<\/p>\n
According to the Rivers IPAC: \u201cOn Thursday, 7th February, 2019, the Acting
\nDirector of Defence Information, Brigadier General John Agim briefed the
\npress in Abuja and assured Nigerians that the army will not be directly
\ninvolved in the 2019 general elections process.\u00a0 According to him:<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026the Armed Forces of Nigeria wishes to re-affirm its neutrality,
\nimpartiality and strict adherence to professional code of conduct before,
\nduring and after the general election. \u201cTherefore, we would like to
\nreiterate that the Armed Forces of Nigeria will carry out its
\nconstitutional duties with zero tolerance to unprofessional conduct.\u00a0 No
\nmilitary personnel are expected to fraternize with any political parties
\nand associations\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the week and days proceeding last week Saturday\u2019s rescheduled
\nelections, the Governor of Rivers State and several other stakeholders
\nrepeatedly alerted the nation on the planned partisan involvement of the
\narmy in the election process in Rivers State.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpecifically, it was revealed that the General Officer Commanding the 6
\nDivision of the Nigeria Army, Major General Jamil Sarham was fraternizing
\nwith leaders of Rivers State APC to rig, snatch election materials, harass
\ncollation officers and force them to allocate bogus results to the APC.<\/p>\n
“Despite the wide publicity they attracted, neither the Chief of Army
\nStaff, the Chairman of the independent National Electoral Commission
\n(INEC) nor the principal accused, Major General Jamil Sarham reacted to
\nthese weighty and very troubling allegations.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead, the Governor of Rivers State and the PDP stakeholders were
\nmaligned and regarded as false alarmists crying wolf where there were none
\nbut alas, here we are with the disastrous consequences of the failure of
\nthe military authorities and the INEC to reprimand and call to order the
\nGOC and his soldiers of destruction that they deployed to Rivers State for
\nunlawful election duties.<\/p>\n
\u201cThus, Saturday 23rd February 2019 will forever remain in the memory of
\nRivers people as a black and bloody Saturday in the election history of
\nthe State simply because the army decided to be overly partisan in breach
\nof their abiding duty to be neutral and provide security for the electoral
\nprocess.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat on earth can justify the killing of as many as 16 unarmed civilians
\nby the army in a rustic community, which members were barely insisting on
\ntheir participatory rights and freedoms in the face of the brazen
\nonslaught by APC thugs to scuttle the electoral process?\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Rivers IPAC appealed to President Mohammadu Buhari, Chief of Army
\nStaff, Tukur Yusuf Buratai and the international community to prevail on
\nthe army to stay away from election duties in Rivers State and allow the
\npolice to perform their constitutional responsibilities for peaceful,
\nfree, fair and credible elections in the State.<\/p>\n
With the dusts yet to settle in the ill-fated rescheduled Presidential Election held across the country last Saturday, more than 77 political parties in Rivers State have come out to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":65162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n