The Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association and a Senior
\nAdvocate of Nigeria, Onueze CJ Okocha has posited that Rivers State has
\nnever been at war with the Igbos of the South-East.<\/p>\n
Okocha, who was reacting to the curfew imposed on Oyigbo Local
\nGovernment Area of the State by the government, asserted that the
\ndecision of the State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, based on the advice
\nof the State Security Council, was constitutional and done in good
\nfaith.<\/p>\n
He described the incident that happened in Oyigbo, where members of the
\nproscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, killed ten (10) security
\noperatives leading to the imposition of curfew in the area as
\nunfortunate.<\/p>\n
Okocha in Port Harcourt on Wednesday said Rivers State and the Igbos
\nhave always enjoyed cordial relationships in areas of marriage and
\ntrading, adding that the two groups were not ready to be at dagger
\nheads.<\/p>\n
The SAN stated that over 60 per cent of businesses in the state was
\nowned by the Igbos, regretting why some individuals would be fanning
\nembers of war among the two groups.<\/p>\n
He said, “Our relationship is very cordial, it is only these political
\nboundaries of states of the federation that have tend to divide people.
\nIgbos control 50 to 60 per cent of commercial activities in Rivers
\nState. I have many of them as my friends.<\/p>\n
“I wonder why anybody will raise this banner of ethnic jingoism. We have
\nnever as Rivers people had a problem with Igbos. Most of us, including
\nmyself, my mother came from Onitsha, which is one major kingdom in
\nIgboland.”<\/p>\n
Okocha noted that many Igbos have been appointed to serve in the state
\nas commissioners, Special Advisers and heads of Ministries of Government
\nunder Governor Wike, wondering why some people would claim Igbos were
\nhated by the state.<\/p>\n
“So why should anybody begin to allege oh, some of us don’t like Igbos
\nand I heard that unfortunate label being labeled as an accusation that
\nour Governor hates the Igbo. How can? There are Igbos in his government
\nwho are serving in Rivers State. How many Rivers people are in any
\ngovernment, cabinet, in that matter, in anywhere else apart from Rivers
\nstate.<\/p>\n
“But Igbos are serving in the Governor’s cabinet, Yoruba are on his
\nadvisory council, are on his executive council and many of them are
\nactivists here in Rivers State. we have even had a political
\norganisation call Indigenes Without Border,” he said.<\/p>\n
The legal luminary explained that the governor had the constitutional
\nright to impose curfew on any part of the state under him if there are
\nthreats of breakdown of law and order to avert anarchy.<\/p>\n
Okocha said it was wrong for the banned IPOB members to cause public
\nunrest in the state having been proscribed by law, adding that the
\ngovernor acted in defense of law and order, as it was a constitutional
\nresponsibility of government.<\/p>\n
“So it is totally unlawful for anybody to begin to carry that banner of
\nIndigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and begin to wreak the kind of havoc
\nthat we saw played out in some parts of Port Harcourt. Mile One, Mile
\nTwo area, Emenike, Ikokwu axis, and then in Oyigbo, a place which is the
\nneighbouring town between us and Abia State. Most unfortunate.<\/p>\n
“Lawlessness and unlawful assemblies ought not to tolerated in a country
\nthat is working to have law and order, and peace to face the development
\nof our country. So it was very unfortunate.”<\/p>\n
He explained that in any part of a state where there is a breakdown of
\nlaw and order, a Governor is constitutionally obliged to impose a
\ncurfew, which was exactly what Governor Wike.<\/p>\n
“But he has assessed the security situation and based on the advice he
\ngot from the security agencies, I believe he was perfectly justified to
\nimpose curfew in those parts of the state where there was a total
\nbreakdown of law and order,” he stated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Onueze CJ Okocha has posited that Rivers State has never been at war with the Igbos…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":76756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n