Okenyi Kenechi
Environmental Activist, Annkio Briggs says the worst insecurity facing the Niger Delta Region alongside kidnapping is the encouragement that herdsmen across Africa should come down to the region, particularly Rivers state.
She said that the approval of $1.96billion for the award of contract to develop the Kano-Jigawa-Katsina-Jibia rail line in Northern Nigeria to Maradi in Niger Republic takes the resources of the Niger Delta to pay for the railway to Niger while the region has no Federal roads and railways.
She was reacting to statements made by the minister of transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi at the burial of former Supreme Court Justice, Godwin Karibi-Whyte in Abonnema on Saturday.
Amaechi had lamented the rising spate of insecurity and political intimidation in Rivers state, saying that the state is back to the time of Ateke Tom, the ex-militant who is now the traditional head of Okochiri town.
According to him: “You have lost your voice. The sage has gone under and nobody is speaking. When I was Governor, I gave people voices, but they have blocked those voices.
“I was happy with the sermon, the Bishop indicted us. If you are a Governor, have you governed well? If you are a politician, have you carried your people along?
“Everyone is scared. We are going back to when Ateke held sway. We are going back to the period where we run away from our people. We are back to a period when nobody can speak. But from next year, I will begin to speak, if nobody wants to speak.
“We are all here because we need to bury a man God has blessed. I have stopped travelling because of bad weather, but I told myself I must be here because of Justice Whyte.
“If you knew Justice very well, you will know I was close to him. I was one of the few people he mentored. He taught me that character was essential to life. I was a Governor at 42, and he told me, even in my 40s, I was the oldest person in Rivers State and that I must behave like a father to all”
But Mrs Briggs said that Katsina, Kaduna, states and North East are more insecure than Rivers state.
“It is my responsibility as a Daughter, Servant and Defender of Rivers state and Niger Delta to always rise up and counter any and all narrative that de-markets our people, state and region”, she said on Sunday.
“There is insecurity everywhere but the Federal Government poses the worst threat to our very survival with the water resources bill that wants to take away THE VERY SURVIVAL AND FUTURE OF THE VERY LIFE OF RIVERS STATE”.
She added: “We Know Our In and Out Enemies In Rivers State”.
