Rivers APC Blames Wike, PDP for Murder of
Activist Lawyer Ken Asuete
….Urges President Buhari to intervene
The All Progressives Congress (APC)
in Rivers State has blamed Governor Nyesom Wike and the State Chapter of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the gruesome murder, on Monday in Port
Harcourt, of activist lawyer Ken Atsuete, a strong opposition voice in the
state.
“Governor Wike and his PDP gang of
vampires in Rivers State have once again exhibited the only act of governance
known to them by plotting the assassination of Barrister Ken Atsuete, a
well-known fiery critic of Wike’s evil administration and defender of Rivers
State APC,” the party lamented Tuesday morning in a statement signed by the
State Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya.
Rivers APC said in the statement:
“Barr. Asuete, a renowned human rights activist who was one of the
speakers at the just concluded conference of the Nigerian Bar Association held
in Port Harcourt, must have been assassinated principally for his stoic stand
against the evil administration of Wike in Rivers State. The other reason why
Barr. Atsuete was killed was for his several petitions to the Inspector General
of Police and to the Chief Justice of the Federation against the Chief Judge of
Rivers State for being partisan by remanding his client Ojukaye Flag Amachree
unjustly and wickedly. The other fact that may have triggered the killing of
this harmless man was his live interview on Nigeria Info 92.3FM radio station,
in which he revealed that Wike and his myopic and misguided legal team procured
a fake court order on the release of Tai election result to deceive themselves
and the general public.”
Rivers APC observed that “Wike right
from the beginning has had serious phobia for the person of Barr. Asuete’s
client, the former Chairman of Asari-Toru Local Government Area, Ojukaye Flag
Amachree, the prisoner of war in the hands of Wike and his misguided government
whom Wike and his PDP are afraid that if he is released before the rerun
elections, PDP will fail woefully based on his popularity among the youths in
Rivers State. Their belief is that in order to keep him off the field, Barr.
Asuete had to die.”
The party further said: “We have
shouted ourselves hoarse that Wike is a bad omen for the Nigerian politics and
that his forceful seizure of power is a bad omen for Rivers State since he is
not interested in the peace and progress of the state and her people.
We are aware that Wike and PDP are not interested in any peaceful election
in Rivers State, hence they are doing everything within their powers to
frustrate the peace in the state so as to ensure that the rerun elections never
hold.”
Rivers APC lamented that over 200 of
its members have been killed in less than two years by Wike and his misguided
PDP in Rivers State, noting that “the strategy has changed, with the targets
now being those defending the APC in Rivers State, after which the leaders of
APC will be the next group to be destroyed by these vagabonds in power.”
The party regretted that Asuete’s
assassination came shortly after Governor Wike recently attended a security
meeting in Abuja with the Inspector General of Police, Director of Directorate
of State Service (DSS), and Rivers APC leaders, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi,
Senator Magnus Abe, Dr. Dakuku Peterside and Dr. Davies Ikanya. It recalled
that Wike at that peace meeting promised that there would no longer be any
political killings in Rivers State. “We will like to know from him how and why
the harmless Asuete was killed after this pledge,” Rivers APC said, adding: “He
has at several fora recently stated that Rivers State under his watch is very safe,
yet Rivers State people are kidnapped and killed on daily basis nobody seems to
care.”
Turning its attention to the Federal
authorities, the party said, We wish to remind President Buahri what he said on
May 14, 2015 when a delegation from Rivers State led by former Deputy Governor
of the state, Sir Gabriel Toby visited him where he assured the Rivers State
people that his government will fish out and prosecute all those behind
electoral violence and more than a year later, the political killings are
getting worse in Rivers State. Wike and PDP killed to get power, now they are
killing to retain it.
Mr, President during this meeting
stated, “We will confront them with facts and figures. We will not forgive and
forget those who perpetrated killings and arson in Rivers State during the
elections. At least, this is the much we owe to Nigerians. There will not be an
army within the army or a police within the police,” and today, Wike and PDP
have become law to themselves.
“We will like to know what crime we
have committed to leave us at the mercy of Wike and his gang of killers. How
many of our people need to be killed before Rivers State is secured from the
hands of this killer government operating in Rivers State?” It lamented that
“nobody is safe anymore in Wike’s Rivers of blood as he recently granted
amnesty to hardened criminals and granted them freedom to move freely without
recovering their arms and ammunition to enable them ensure that Rivers State
will never know peace. To sustain his war against Rivers people he has brought
back the creek boys who were used to rig and maim Rivers people during the
ill-fated 2015 elections to the streets to continue with their killing spree.”
Rivers APC declared that “Ken
Atsuete’s lifeless body is currently lying at the University of Port Harcourt
Teaching Hospital mortuary but the conscience of Wike and his gang will never
have rest as his blood and all those so far murdered will never give them any
respite in their miserable lives.”
The party once again urged President
Muhammadu Buhari to fulfill his pledge that those behind the senseless killings
in Rivers State will never go free but would be fished out and made to account
for their atrocities.
