Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, on Tuesday, condemned in strong terms the burning of two Local Council secretariats by sponsored thugs in Rivers State following the outcome of last Saturday’s local governments elections.
While sympathising with Governor Siminalayi Fubara, and the people of Rivers state over the unfortunate incident, Frank in a statement in Abuja, said the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, should not only resign their positions but they should be held accountable for the wanton destruction of government property and shedding of innocent blood being witnessed in Rivers.
Frank categorically accused the police of openly supporting sponsored political thugs that set ablaze the council headquarters, saying, “no sooner did the IGP ordered the withdrawal of policemen from the council secretariats than the hoodlums descended on them without any action on the part of the Force to prevent or bring the orgy of violence under control.”
While welcoming President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s order to the Police to act to safeguard lives and property in Rivers State in the face of violence, he described the President’s intervention as coming too late, biased and skewed in favour of the pro-Wike faction now wrecking havoc in the state.
Frank said: “Wike has been boasting that he has the President’s blessings to do and undo in Rivers State as well as carry out any action aimed at destabilizing Governor Fubara’s administration and make the entire State ungovernable and he has done it.
“Wike equally vowed to set fire on any state opposed to him and he has commenced by setting Rivers State ablaze, yet President Tinubu and the relevant security agencies have not deemed it necessary to call Wike to order or invite him for questioning, simply because their grand conspiracy and plot to use the oil rich state to win the 2027 presidential election.
“It is highly unfortunate that the President is being perceived as tacitly encouraging his minister to cause mayhem in Rivers State because he thinks it will benefit him in the 2027 presidential but this must stop.
“Enough is enough. Wike and the Inspector General of police must go. They must be held accountable for this arson. The perpetrators must be arrested and brought to justice.
“All patriotic Nigerians including former Presidents and heads of Labour and Trade Unions must speak up to save Rivers State and its oil facilities from destruction by these sponsored arsonists.
“President Tinubu must for once act as the Commander-In-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and not the commander-in-chief of the All Progressives Congress and political stooges.
The President swore to an oath to carry out his duties as President without fear or favour, but today it is glaring that he has taken sides with Wike against Rivers’ people.”
Frank who is the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Ambassador to East Africa and Middle East, called on the United Nations to take note of what is currently playing out in Rivers State and hold the key aggressors and sponsors of violence to account through relevant international laws, conventions, covenants and protocols.
He also reiterated his call on the people of Rivers State to stand solidly behind Fubara in the face of gross violence and acts of provocation being meted on the state by external forces seeking to gain control of the resources and political capital of the state.