Mark Lenu
As June 17 ended the tenures of all the local government chairmen in Rivers State, some youths had on Monday stormed the council secretariats of Akuku-Toru, Asari-Toru, and Degema LGAs of the state.
The youths said they will continue to occupy the secretariats of the three Kalabari-speaking LGAs until the council chairmen, Rowland Sekibo, Michael Williams and Onengiye-Ofori George vacate offices with immediate effect. However, there is a pending case before the court regarding the tenureship of the local government chairmen which is yet to be resolved.
Speaking with our correspondent, a retired army sergeant, Benibo Tariah supported the move to vacate the council chairmen from office. He said: “Why we are here is because the tenure of the council chairmen is over and they are saying they will not leave office.
“We, the people of Kalabari have decided to come out in a peaceful demonstration. We are now telling them that since their tenure is over, they should allow the new incoming to take over from them. “They should go home and relax, let better hands come and take care of the LGAs.”
Our correspondent reports that the youths tarried all night long at the three Kalabari council secretariats and were still there as of the time of filing this report.
