Rivers Govt: Wike Survived Five Assassination Attempts in 11 Months

Accuses police of complicity
Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt

The Rivers State Government has said the state Governor, Nyesom Wike, survived five assassination attempts in 11 months, accusing the police of complicity in attempts to eliminate the governor.

The state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dr. Austin Tam –George, who made the disclosure in Port Harcourt yesterday, described as callous and insensitive recent, denials by the police that the governor’s life was at risk.

“It is no secret that the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led federal government declared war on the government and people of Rivers State soon after the party lost the governorship litigation at the Supreme Court in 2016,” the commissioner said, adding that the first attempt to kill the governor was made immediately after the Supreme Court verdict.

Tam-George said the governor’s Chief Security Officer was removed abruptly without any explanation, and that the six police officers dismissed by the police in January this year played a key role in foiling the series of attempts to kill Wike.

The commissioner further disclosed that after several attempts to assassinate Wike had failed, an offer of N150 million was made to two of the six dismissed police officers, to directly kill the governor, but that the officers declined the offer.

“We call on the Interpol and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to lead an independent inquiry into why those gallant and patriotic officers were dismissed from the Nigeria Police Force on spurious charges of misconduct,” Tam- George said.
The commissioner said as part of its preparations to seize Rivers State in the 2019 elections, the central APC government was already considering a range of escalatory measures against Wike and some key leaders in the state.

Wike, himself had said at several fora that the federal government had laid out plans to eliminate him.
He accused the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) of being at the fore-front of the plans, especially with the withdrawal of his security detail and failure to restore his guards despite appeals from different strata of the society.