8 Govs Visit Amaechi,Ask Him To See Goodluck

To salvage the worsening security situation in Rivers State, Governor Rotimi Amaechi has been advised to meet with President Goodluck Jonathan in person to brief him of the situation.

This was the advice of eight state governors: Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, Abiola Ajimobi, Oyo; Rauf Aregbesola, Osun; Babatunde Fashola, Lagos; Ibikunle Amosun, Ogun and the deputy governors, Damishi Luka of Zamfara; Mukhtar Anka, Nasarawa and Ezemadumere of Imo, who all paid Governor Amaechi a solidarity visit at the Government House, Port Harcourt, on Thursday.

Addressing the press after their meeting with Governor Amaechi, Dr Fayemi said they had listened to their brother governor and had advised him to personally meet with the president, who is the chief security officer of the country, so as to brief him on the turn of events in the state.

He also said they were calling on the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, to take steps towards salvaging the battered confidence of the people of Rivers State in the police, noting that confidence in the force had greatly diminished among the people of the state.

The governors also noted that the situation in Rivers State was avoidable and called on parties to sheath their swords and allow peace and security to be restored.

“We are here because we think security, for us, is far more of a major concern to the people of Nigeria. You may be aware that today is National Economic Council, we all ought to be in Abuja, attending the NEC meeting. Being here is not a denigration of that meeting in any way, it’s just to stress the importance of our concern for the security of the citizens of the people of Rivers State.

“We have met with our brother and chairman of our forum, Governor Amaechi. We have had extensive discussions, he has briefed us of the situation on the ground here and having listened to him, we do feel strongly that it will be quite important for him to actually go and brief the president, who is our leader and the chief security officer of the country on the very challenging security situation here in Rivers State.

“Also, in our deliberations with our brother, we thought it would be important for the hierarchy of our police authorities, the Inspector-General of Police, to help restore the confidence of the people of Rivers State that has really been greatly diminished,” he said.

Fayemi added that “we really believe this is a matter that requires the moral authority of the president as well; it’s about deepening this democracy, it’s about ensuring that peace reigns, not just in Rivers because we know that Rivers is of concern to Governor Amaechi, but state of security in the entire country is also of concern to him.

“We believe the president, being our leader, as we are all president’s men, we are all president’s governors, he’s our leader and we feel that he actually occupies a very critical position that necessitates him wielding his moral authority in ensuring that peace reigns here and that nobody uses him by subterfuge to create situations that are entirely avoidable. The tension in Rivers State is entirely avoidable and we want all parties to sheath their swords and help restore the peace and security of our state here.”

Also speaking at the briefing, the Zamfara State deputy governor, Luka, said the group believed that a meeting with the president would bring the crisis in the state to an end.

Meanwhile, hundreds of supporters of Governor Amaechi, under the aegis of the Ikwerre Youths Movement (IYM), flooded the Port Harcourt International Airport on Thursday to receive the governor and the visiting governors to the state.