We demand justice for victims of violence and murder in Rivers —Dakuku Peterside

Last  Monday, the All Progressives  Congress (APC) in Rivers State held a procession in  Port Harcourt, the state capital, which ended with a  memorial service at the Port Harcourt Polo Club for  victims of violence and murders in Rivers  before, during and after the last general elections.

Called  the Black Day, the procession was led by the APC governorship candidate in the state at the polls, Dr.  Dakuku  Adol   Peterside,   who was accompanied by other APC leaders in the state including Sen. Magnus Abe; Chief Andrew  Uchendu, the state party Chairman, Davies  Ibiamu  Ikanya, and Asita   H.  Asita.  Speaker after speaker at the occasion  decried the violence, which they claimed had continued. As a matter of fact, they claimed that some  APC members were violently attacked on their way to the procession.

Peterside, who is contesting the result of the governorship  election  which produced PDP  Nyesom  Wike,  in court  spoke to  journalists on the significance of the event and their quest for justice for victims of the violence.

How do you rate the turn out  for the Black Day procession for persons killed during the last elections?

The turn out was excellent; you could see the number of people who came out on the streets and at the memorial service itself, and going  by their turn out, I believe Rivers people have made a statement. They are saying ‘no’ to political violence, kidnapping and politically motivated assassinations.

We thought that at the end of the election in April, we would have come to the end of this matter but, unfortunately, the violence has continue in different dimensions and has manifested itself in form of kidnapping, armed robbery and more assassinations because those persons who were armed by the   self-centered, evil politicians have not been disarmed and so we have continued with the same experience as the present Rivers government lacks the political will and the moral right to attack the issue.

What kind of responses or solidarity have you had from people outside the state on this issue?

FILE: Black Monday Protest March in Commemoration of the sad and gruesome death of Rivers people during the General elections.

The responses we have gotten across the country  confirm that Nigerians  are in solidarity and in sympathy with the people of Rivers  on what we have gone through during the  elections and what we are still going through. The Nigerian people are concerned that Rivers  has remained  a black spot in our democratic development and they have condemned in totality the level of violence visited on the people of state who were only trying to cast their votes in exercise of their democratic rights and the prayer of every right thinking Nigerian is that this should never happen again in our political development

There were reports  that several persons, especially from your party,  were attacked on their way to the procession and the  memorial service. How true is this?

Yes, our people were attacked. People were attacked in   Abonema  and I was reliably informed that a top LGA official led the team that attacked several of our members there. We had  the same experience in  Omuma,Etche  and  Ikwerre  Local Government  Areas. It is  unfortunate and I know that these attackers  cannot escape the long arms of the law. They have refused to admit the fact that times have changed and the days  of impunity and lawlessness are  gone. We have drawn the attention of  security agencies at the highest level to it and  I am convinced   they are doing something.

The ruling Peoples Democratic  Party(PDP) in Rivers State has accused you and your party, APC, of playing politics with the lives of Rivers people who died during the elections. Also some PDP leaders and Rivers State government officials  claim that the deaths were mostly cult-related and had nothing to do with the elections.

It is most uncharitable for the PDP to say that those who  lost their lives during the elections died in cult related activities. What kind of cult related reason would lead to the killing of Chief  Adube, a man who was above 65 years  old? He was not only killed but  his three children, his driver,  his friend and  are lative who came visiting  were also murdered in cold blood. What  sort  of cult-related  reasons  would have warranted that kind of killings?

Now, the persons who were attacked  on their way to  President  Buhari’s  rally before the elections, were they also members of a cult? What cult were they members of? Many persons were killed.  Claver  was killed.   Nwokocha was killed, Chris  Obera  was killed on the day of election and I ask, what cult did they belong to? What cult related offence would they have committed on the day of election? The man who was killed in Tai, what cult did  he belong to? It is lack of respect for human life that would have led to the statement by  any member of the PDP  or official of the PDP government in Rivers State to say  that they were killed for cult related activities. It is clear that the PDP has no respect for human life and it manifests everyday in their activities and the way they conduct government business.

What hope is there for justice for the families of the victims of these politically motivated violence and murders?

The APC sympatizes  with all those who lost their loved ones during the carnage that took place during the elections and  all those who are victims of political violence in Rivers State and we have said over and over again that we would continue  to pursue justice for all those who lost their loved ones and other victims. As a corollary, we are planning to set up a political violence victims support fund   at the appropriate  time. We are not going to rest on our oars until we see some form of justice meted out to all those who perpetrated the violence and we think that it would give some level of comfort to members of the victims families.