Despite calls from a number of stakeholders for both sides to lay down their swords and embrace peace, the power struggle between the governor of Rivers State, Sim Fubara, and Barrister Nyesom Wike, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, is progressively taking on a different form.
In the most recent development in the dispute, an Ijaw group operating under the name Ijaw Renaissance Force (IRF) has promised to resurrect insurgency in the oil-rich Niger Delta in the event that Governor Sim is removed in violation of the Constitution by either an unlawful impeachment or a stage-managed judicial removal.
A passage from the statement said, “With great concern, we, the Ijaw Renaissance Force, an alliance of more than 100 ethnic nationalities and youth organizations active in Rivers and Bayelsa, have observed the continuing struggle for dominance between Governor Sim Fubara of Rivers State and former governor Barr Nyesom Wike, who is currently the minister of the Federal Capital Territory.”
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The group’s coordinator, Wisdom Oniekpar Ikuli, and spokesperson, Sir White Kalio, jointly signed the statement, which went on to criticize the involvement of certain state and non-state players in exacerbating the situation by attempting to remove Fubara illegally.
“We have also observed, tensely, as certain elected officials and non-state actors attempt to orchestrate the forcible removal of a legitimately elected Governor Fubara from office through the back door without any valid reason.”
In closing, the organization issued a dire warning to troublemakers about the serious consequences of their acts.
Therefore, we categorically declare that any attempt at removing Governor Sim Fubara from office through a complex impeachment process or judicial stage-managed removal would result in a resumption of the oil war conflict in Rivers State.
