A former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Prof. Tam David-West, on Tuesday described Nigeria as a failed state. David-West, at a news conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said that any government that could not protect its citizens was a failed government. He said, “We have a failed state in Nigeria today. I have been reading what is happening in Rivers State. Any government that cannot protect its citizens is not worth being called a government.” The professor of virology expressed his support for Governor Rotimi Amaechi and any party that would bring light over the country’s current darkness.
“I stand for a government that knows that 19 is bigger than 16. I stand for a party that I know will bring light to the darkness in Nigeria. I stand for a party of people of substance both in words and in character,” he said. Also at the news conference, the All Progressives Congress in the state called on the United Nations, the Amnesty International and other relevant international organisations to intervene in the continued attacks on its members. It said through its Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, that while some of its members had been killed by suspected Peoples Democratic Party thugs, others had been seriously injured.
The party urged humanitarian and democratic organisations to send high-powered election monitoring teams to the state. According to the APC, doing so would help to avert bloodbath and make the election outcomes in the state acceptable. It said, “We call on Amnesty International, the International Red Cross, the relevant organs of the Economic Community of West African States, the African Union and the United Nations to immediately begin investigation into the gruesome killings in Rivers State. “An acceptable electoral outcome is possible in Rivers State only if the elections are truly free and fair. There cannot be free and fair elections if the spate of violent high handedness, intimidation and terror is not halted. “As the 2015 general election approaches, the scale, magnitude and intensity of the orchestrated violence against members of the APC are assuming a frightful dimension.” The APC which however called on its members to remain calm and law-abiding, criticised the police in the state for their inability to arrest any of those that participated in 13 different attacks on them. It said, “This press conference is our distress call to all men, women, organisations, nations and people, who cherish democracy to intervene before it is too late. “It is unimaginable that a President (Goodluck Jonathan), who himself claims his roots from Niger Delta would permit unprovoked and premeditated violent attacks on the same people he hopes to ride on their sentiments to retain his Presidency.” Also, the lawmaker representing Rivers South-East, Senator Magnus Abe, attributed the harassment and intimidation of APC members to Jonathan’s fear that he might lose the state during the forthcoming elections. “Another reason is because the PDP is bent on taking over power in Rivers State as a result of its (Rivers) economic significance in the country,” Abe said. He, however, expressed dissatisfaction over the attitude of the police, saying, “We have reported many times to the police, but nothing has happened. There is no pretence about the partiality of security operatives. There is nothing we are saying that the authorities are not aware of.” Also, the governorship candidate of the APC in the state, Dakuku Peterside, claimed that as of the time of the news conference, members of the party were being attacked in Khana and Etche Local Government Areas of the state. “We have been receiving text messages from our members who are currently going through distress in the hands of political thugs,” Peterside added.
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