The leadership of National Rescue Movement, NRM, Rivers State Chapter has raised the alarm and alerted members of the public and security agencies over what it said was a fresh plot by those it termed “enemies of the progress and wellbeing of the state”, to frame up its leader and governorship hopeful in the 2023 election, High Chief Sobomabo Jackrich.
The Party in a statement on Monday said that the information from a reliable source has it that part of the plot is to frame up Ambassador Jackrich with unsubstantiated accusations and contract some witnesses to testify against him in order for him to be invited by security agencies for questioning, and in the process, detain him on orders of some highly placed officials of the Rivers State Government.
Ibiyekaribo Peters, Chairman, NRM, Rivers State who signed the statement said that “the move according to our source, is to ensure that our leader, Sobomabo Jackrich is kept at abeyance out of the political system in the state until the 2023 political season is over, as he is seen as one of their biggest threat that may thwart their plans to enthrone their stooges to lead the state in the next political dispensation.
“We gathered where such plot fails, they may resort to approaching the courts to surreptitiously obtain a legal pronouncement in order to arrest and detain our leader till after the 2023 political season.
“In event where the above plots failed, they may resort to assassinating our leader.
“If u will recall, our leader sometimes last year had raised similar alarm of threat to is life and frame ups which were aborted because he got wind of their sinister plot early enough and cried out.
“High Chief Ambassador Sobomabo Jackrich whom we have followed over the years, is a responsible and law abiding citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and not involved in any criminal activity, and therefore has nothing to hide.
“His passion as a freedom fighter and political activist is about seeing to the wellbeing of Rivers people and development of the Niger Delta region. Thus, if there is a need to investigate him or the activities of his various organisations, let it be done in such manner as befitting of a responsible society and not to hide under any guise to intimidate or harass him.
“It is common knowledge that since the formal defection of Ambassador Jackrich from the ruling People’s Democratic Party with his huge team of supporters across the state, and his subsequent entrance into the NRM, his towering profile has continued to attract massive followership by well-meaning people of the state, and thus, has left his detractors in awe; hence, their plot to stop at nothing to eliminate him at all cost.
“It is rather unfortunate that in a modern democratic society like ours, people who do not hold similar political ideologies or who disagree in principle with the government of the day, are seen as enemies that must be eliminated at all cost.
“We are supposed to have a society where democratic norms should be upheld at all times. Citizens should have freedom of expression and association within the confines of the law without fear of intimidation, harassment and witch-hunting.
“We therefore use this medium to send a save our souls message to the Inspector General of Police, the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, the Chief of Army Staff, the GOC Sixth Division of the Nigerian Army, the DG and the State Director Department of State Services, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps, and members of the public to be aware of the antics of these desperate politicians on the threat to the life of our leader and our members, to come to our aide.
“We also call on members of the National Rescue Movement in Rivers State and members of various groups who have identified with our vision to rescue the state from the shackles of bad governance and economic strangulation unleashed on Rivers people by the current administration, to continue to be law abiding in all their conducts and desist from all acts capable of destabilizing the collective peace of the state, as we will not be held responsible for any individual who is found on the wrong side of the law”.
