Protests in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, continued on Tuesday as thousands of youths from the four local government areas of the Ikwerre Ethnic Nationality threatened to shut down the Port Harcourt International Airport, if the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Joseph Mbu, was redeployed to another state.
This is coming barely five days after some youths in Okrika, hometown of Nigeria’s first lady; Dame Patience Jonathan staged a similar protest and threatened to shut down the Port Harcourt refinery if Mbu was redeployed.
The four local government areas that make up the Ikwerre Ethnic Nationality are Port Harcourt, Emohua, Obio/Akpor and Ikwerre.
During Tuesday’s protest, the youths carried placards and sang songs of praises for the commissioner of police, even as they blocked a portion of the busy Port Harcourt-Aba-Enugu Road for almost an hour.
The protesters also warned that they would shut down other entry points to the state from Ikwerre, oil wells and flow stations within the four local government areas.
The development made travellers going to Aba, Enugh and Umuahia stranded for over 50 minutes following the heavy traffic build-up, even as others coming into Port Harcourt could not get to their destination as a result of the huge crowd on the expressway.
Some of the writings placards read, ‘‘Ikwerre disowns Amaechi’, With Mbu, no more political assassination’, , ‘IG, they will kill us all if you transfer Mbu’, ‘No CP Mbu, no International Airport’ Mbu is needed in Rivers more than ever’ and ‘Jonathan government is the best’.
Addressing the protesters at the GRA junction in Port Harcourt, spokesman for Ikwerre Peoples Assembly, Mr. Chima Boms, said the state police commissioner had performed well and deserved commendation.
Boms said, “Consequently, the Ikwerre Peoples Assembly will resist any attempt to redeploy Mbu as the Rivers State Commissioner of Police as such move will take us back to the dark era.
“Any redeployment of CP Mbu at this time will be asking for the total shutdown of all entry points to Rivers State, including the (Port Harcourt) International Airport, which the Ikwerre people play host to, and all oil wells, flow stations and other facilities in our land.”
He recalled that the Amaechi administration had prior to Mbu’s assumption of duty as the state CP, arrested those with opposing views to that of his government.
Boms added, “The resumption of Mbu as a commissioner of police in Rovers State effectively put an end to the reign of impunity, lawlessness, harassment and the abuse of the fundamental rights of the citizens by Governor Rotimi Amaechi.
“Rivers people and Nigerians will recall that the governor of the state had in his APC rally in Government House called for a revolution, promising the shedding of blood of innocent people.
“The theatrics and antics of Senator Magnus Abe and his gang of brigands was orchestrated to achieve his (Abe) inordinate ambition to emerge as governorship candidate for the APC and to malign and tar the image of the indefatigable commissioner of police,” he said.
He expressed the gratitude of the Ikwerre Peoples Assembly and the Ikwerre Ethnic Nationality to President Goodluck Jonathan for the trust and confidence reposed in the Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike.
But responding to the development, the State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Mrs Ibim Semenitari, said federal government agents sponsored the protest.
“The protest was sponsored by federal government agents. The reality of the fact is that it is no longer secret that agents of the federal government were behind the protest. There is a war against Rivers state by agents of the federal government”, Semenitari said.