I won’t undermine ethnic group’s interest, Wike tells Northern elders

From Tony John, Port Harcourt

Rivers Governor, Nyesom Wike, has  assured that he would continue to conduct the affairs of government in a manner that will not undermine interest of any ethnic group resident in the state.

Governor Wike gave the assurance when leaders of Northern Elders Forum (NEF) led by its Chairman, Prof. Ango Abdullahi visited  him at Government House, Port Harcourt, yesterday.

Prof. Abdullahi identified leadership pandemic confronting the nation, saying that it required an urgent solution.

The northern leaders were in the state to meet with their kinsmen in the aftermath of the EndSARS protest that was allegedly hijacked by the proscribed Indigenous People Organisation of Biafra (IPOB) in Rivers.

Governor Wike applauded the leaders for the visit to ascertain what actually happened during the protest. 

He said it was sad that people would do the wrong and dubiously tie any effort made to correct them to politics and ethnic bias just to deepen the divide among Nigerians.

“The EndSARS protest was very peaceful in Rivers State. Oyigbo Local Government is one of the biggest in terms of population in the state. Miscreants woke up one morning because people are doing EndSARS protest and began to kill innocent people. They burnt down police stations,  killed police officers and soldiers and destroyed courts.

“When you say what you’ve done is wrong, we can’t allow it, they say you’re against a particular ethnic group. How can that be? That action almost led to a big violence between this group and that group.  I am the governor of the state; how can I allow my state to be a centre of war? That can’t happen.

“Nobody can sack anybody here. Everybody has the right to live in the state. But no group can say it is their own place. I won’t allow that. We also have Rivers people who are living outside. So, I can assure you that I will not do anything that will not be fair to any ethnic group,” he declared.