Former Minister of Petroleum and South South elder, Professor Tam David West has called on President Jonathan and other stakeholders in Abuja to nip the excessiveness of politicians, police and other actors in the Rivers crises in the bud before it deteriorates into a full blown war.
He said: “To attack somebody like that because of politics is the lowest depth of indecency. I am very ashamed as a Rivers man that all these are happening in my state. It is a great disservice to President Jonathan. Police are acting with impunity because they know they enjoy protection from the Presidency and the Inspector General of Police.
“President Jonathan should remember what happened in the Western Region, which ultimately contributed to the civil war. Anybody who sits in Abuja and is happy should have a rethink. It is not good for the state. It is not good for the country. I am very worried. With what is happening, I see a very dark cloud stretching from the Niger Delta waters to the sands of the Sahara desert. The dark cloud could consume all of us if they do not stop.
“If it does not stop, 2015 will be in jeopardy. We have never had politics this bad in Nigeria. There is politics of bitterness, ethnic problems and so.
“Senator Abe is a very gentle man. He belongs to an ethnic group. By doing this, police and their backers are stoking the fire of trouble. They should stop,” he said.
In a related development, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) said President Jonathan would be held responsible for not intervening to resolve the crisis.
CNPP’s National Publicity Secretary, Osita Okechukwu, said: “Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) calls on President Goodluck Jonathan to as a matter of urgent national importance to save our democracy by nipping in the bud the gathering storm in Rivers State. The first step is to post out of Rivers State Commissioner of Police Joseph Mbu, before it is too late.
“For us, this is against police professional ethics and best practices, which means that CP Mbu had taken side, and, unfortunately, descended partially into the political arena; thereby breaching the law and enforcing a non-existing Police Permit Order.
“CNPP wishes to remind the Nigeria Police Force that the Police Permit Order had been repealed by the Appeal Court, as an obnoxious colonial order, following a suit filed by the CNPP.
“Accordingly, groups, associations and political parties are under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guaranteed freedom of association and assemblage; hence the duty of the police is to protect all and not to side any group.
“We challenge President Jonathan to direct the Inspector General of the Police to post CP Joseph Mbu out of Rivers State; failing which we shall hold Mr President responsible for the do-or-die politics unfolding in Rivers State.”