Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has debunked reports claiming he ordered the Military to kill Igbos in the Oyigbo area of the oil-rich state.
He said declared in a state broadcast on Monday, stating that the curfew imposed in the area was to restore order, while insisting that the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) had been causing unrest in the area, killing and destroying properties.
“So, it’s not true that I order the military to kill Igbos in Oyigbo. When did I become a friend to the Military?” the former Minister of Education asked. “So what about the Igbos living elsewhere in the state are they also being killed?”
Wike believes that the narrative that Igbos were being killed by Military, was a strategy to divert the attention of Nigerians from the atrocities of the pro-Biafra group in Oyigbo.
He stated this is not the first time the group would be causing problems in the state.
“IPOB added a new dimension this time. They killed 6 Army Officers and burnt one. They killed four Police Officers,” he explained. “They destroyed all the Police Stations and Court Buildings. What offense did we commit as a state?”
The governor added that he has “no relationship with the Army or the Police, I do not command them. They change Commissioner of Police every time. How will I begin to direct the Army that I do not give instruction?”
Wike who expressed anger at IPOB’s hoisting of its flag in a school in Komkom Town, vowed not to allow “criminals” to destroy Rivers State.
“I will not fold my arms and watch criminals destroy my state if those few criminals are Igbos then they should know that I will not allow them,” he warned.
“They made attempt to rename a local government in my state. That alone is a signal. I will not agree to that. I know who is doing all these; who has told them to rise, protest against Wike.”