2015 Polls: Rivers Residents Relocate En masse

FOLLOWING pockets of pre -election violence across the country, some of the urban dwellers have begun to relocate to their villages.  Many have concluded plans to travel out of the country before the February 14 and 28 elections.

 Some of the residents in Rivers State in an interview with The Guardian expressed fear that the elections may not be peaceful following crisis that has bedeviled the State. 

 It has been a period of political unrest for the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state as both parties had for long, engaged in a battle for supremacy.

 The crisis situation perhaps, compelled the United State Government to initiate a peace pact between the three governorship candidates in the State including;  Nyeson Wike of PDP, Dakuku Peterside of APC and Tonye Princewill of Labour party, but three days after the agreement was signed, the APC Secretariat in Okirika Local Council of the State was bombed. 

 Mr. Christian Josiah, who planned to take his family back to the village in five days time, said: “There is so much tension due to the February elections, as a matter of fact, my family members especially my wife have been disturbing me to take her and the children to the village and I have decided to take them home in five days time”

 “A lot of people do not want to be around during the elections because of political disquiet in Rivers state.  With the way things are going, lives may be lost,” he said.

  A visit to some of the motor parks at Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of State, and Port Harcourt City Local Council showed at least 10 per cent increase on the travelling rate after the usual Christmas and New Year trip.

 Some persons were sighted with bags boarding vehicles in different parks in the State.

  Speaking on the development, a driver who plies Romokoro to Owerri, Mike Obinna said: “I can confirm that people are really travelling out of the state now, There is increase now compare to last month when people returned from Christmas holiday.’

 He added, “People seem to be afraid.  I am not comfortable with the situation even though, I am making money out of it. I am more concerned about the lives of our citizens. We sincerely need peace in Nigeria.  

 Another resident who was travelling from Port Harcourt to Owerri, Emeka said: “I am not travelling because I am scared of the election violence, I will come out that day to elect those that will lead us”.

 An economist, Theodore Brown on lamented that the situation would definitely affect the economy, stressing that as people lock up their shops and businesses to travel to their villages, the chain flow of business would be greatly affected. 

  It would be recalled that the State Chapter of APC recently disclosed that the party has lost several supporters and hundreds of others injured since January this year when their presidential candidate flagged off his campaign rally in Port Harcourt. 

  The party at a world press conference on election violence at Presidential Hotel Port Harcourt, alleged that the PDP established machinery for violence which began to unleash mayhem in form of physical attacks on the APC members, killing and causing grievous bodily harm on its members. 

  Chairman of the State APC, Davies Ibiamu Ikanya said: “ As the 2015 general election approaches, the scale, magnitude and intensity of the orchestrated violence against members of the APC is assuming a frightful dimension necessitating that we cry out to the Nigerian and International community.

 “Our plight is akin to that fact of a people in a military conquered and occupied territory. PDP thugs and hirelings practically commit murders under the watchful and protective eyes of the police without as much as a slap on the wrist, the objective being to antagonize and intimidate our supporters into believing that it is unsafe for them to come out and vote, thus effectively disenfranchising them.”

 Ikanya noted that several calls have been made to the federal government to intervene, but regretted that all the distress calls fell on a deaf ear.

 The party stated that it was unimaginable that a president who claims his roots from Niger Delta region and who assumed office on the wings of agitations for equity and justice, would permit unprovoked premeditated violent attacks on the same people he hope to vote him in for a second term.

“ We call on Amnesty International, the International Red Cross, the relevant organs of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union, and the United Nations (UN), to immediately commence independent inquiries into the gruesome attacks and killings in Rivers State,” he added.

Similarly, the former Minister of Petroleum, Prof. Tam David-West said: “Nigeria has failed. Any government that cannot protect lives of its citizens and properties has failed”

 Reacting to the violent attacks on APC members, Senator Magnus  Abe said  the dreadful situation in the state was occasioned by the desperation of the Federal Government to take over the state at all cost and by force, adding that the police in the State is under a great influence.

 In his reaction, the State Secretary of PDP Mr. Walter Ibibia said most attacks visited on APC members in the State were carried out by APC with the aim of attracting sympathy.

 On its part, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has alarmed at the deteriorating state of politically motivated violence across he State and has urged government to take immediate and visible steps to end the trend.