Fubara, Nwifuru beg CSOs, NANS, others to shelve protest

• Obaseki empathises with Nigerians over hardship
• APC, LP plotting to cause unrest, Enugu PDP alleges

The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has empathised with Nigerians over the pervading hardship and difficulties they had to endure, particularly over the last one year, arising from various policies that have been implemented by the Federal Government.

Obaseki, in an address, ahead of the planned nationwide #EndBadGovernance protests by citizens to express their displeasure over the difficult living conditions, urged the organisers to consider adopting other forms of protests outside marching and processions on the streets.

The governor, who reassured that the state government has mobilised security agencies to be on high alert and ensure that law and order is maintained, while providing protection for genuine protesters, disclosed that some people within the political space are plotting to use the excuse of the protest to cause disruptions and destroy public infrastructure.

He said: “Our intelligence reveals that plans have been perfected to infiltrate the planned protest matches to cause wanton destruction of life and property. Armed thugs and some cult groups have been procured and mobilised to attack, burn public buildings and offices, including the Secretariat Complex in Benin City and several newly renovated schools and healthcare centres in parts of the state.

“Their motive is to settle political scores ahead of the September gubernatorial elections. We have taken this intelligence very seriously in the light of the massive mobilisation of thugs on July 18, 2024, in Benin airport and the rampant shooting, which led to the death of a police officer.”

ASLO, the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has pleaded with the Civil Society Groups and other organisations to shelve the planned nationwide protest, saying that he has credible information that some mercenaries and thugs have been hired from outside to destroy valuable infrastructure in the state.

The governor made the revelation when he addressed representatives of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), stakeholders of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Rivers State ethnic and youth groups, and Port Harcourt Motor Spare Parts Dealers Union, Ikoku Branch, among others, at the Banquet Hall, the Government House, Port Harcourt, yesterday.

Fubara insisted that activities of detractors over the last months are clear indications that the state has unrepentant enemies who will do everything possible within their means to destabilise the state.

In his presentation, the leader of CSOs, Community Based Organisations (CBOs), Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Women Groups, Artisans and Traders, Success Jack, said that they are not participating in the planned protest because of the delicate and tensed political atmosphere so that detractors would not have the opportunity to tilt the political balance that will embolden anarchists to create premeditated crisis.

HOWEVER, ahead of the proposed nationwide protest tomorrow, Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State, on Tuesday, appealed to youths in the state not to participate in the protest, saying that the Federal Government is making efforts to fix the country, pleading with Nigerians to have patience.

The governor, who made the appeal in Abakaliki, the state capital, during the first youth summit, said that apart from measures being put in place by the President to address the precarious economic situation in the country, his administration is committed to the ‘People’s Chatter of Needs’ policy, noting that the economy will be better for it soon.

SIMILARLY, the Enugu State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that it has uncovered sinister plots by the leaderships of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Labour Party (LP) in the state to hide under the cover of the proposed nationwide protest to sponsor instability in the state.

The PDP, in a statement by its state Chairman, Augustine Nnamani, yesterday, said that the Federal Government and security agencies should hold the leaderships of the two parties in the state responsible for any breach of peace in the state.

The statement reads: “The PDP is in possession of an impeccable intelligence revealing a sinister plot by the leaderships of LP, APC and their allies to cause instability in the state under the cover of the nationwide protests.

“The intelligence shows that these opposition leaders have been seriously worried about the soaring popularity of the Governor Peter Mbah administration occasioned by his evident development and infrastructural strides in the last 14 months.”

The party, therefore, urged citizens of the state to go about their legitimate businesses and “not allow themselves to be used by political losers, who are hell-bent on fomenting strife in the state in the name of protest.”