ARMY VACCINE SCARE IN RIVERS SCHOOLS: Part OF Gov. Wike Blackmail On Army, SARS, Other Security Agencies Ahead 2019 Election ~ Rivers APC

The All Progressives Congress, APC, Rivers State Chapter, is utterly dismayed that emerging facts being made available to the party indicate that the Nigerian Army vaccine scare that was promoted on radio and social media earlier today (Tuesday) by the Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Barr. Emma Okah, is part of a well-articulated strategy by the Gov. Wike-led Rivers State Government to ridicule, humiliate, intimidate and demoralise the Nigerian Army, SARS and other security agencies ahead of the 2019 elections.

The APC finds it appalling that the Rivers State Government led by Gov. Nyesom Wike would concoct outright lies and falsehood just to score cheap political points by denigrating our respected men and women of the uniformed and other security services who place their lives on the line every other day to keep Nigerians safe. This is the worst form of ingratitude that a government can openly organise against an important set of citizens who lose their limbs and in some cases lose their lives for the rest of us.

The APC is aware of a special project that has just been flagged off by the Rivers State Government and driven by the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Barr. Emma Okah in which a task force of PDP members have been assembled and charged with the sole task of inundating the traditional and new media daily with anti-SARS messages until the police high command is forced to transfer out CSP Akin Fakorede from Rivers State. The idea is that having refused and rebuffed Gov. Wike’s entreaties including a bribe of N100 million naira, the governor and his party believe that there exists a possibility that Fakorede’s replacement will likely fall for the governor’s bait ahead of the 2019 elections.

While the APC cannot speak for the police or other security agencies, it behoves on us and indeed other well-meaning Rivers people to vehemently condemn the war of attrition being levied by Gov. Wike and his government against security agencies in Rivers State.

The fact is that the Army has made a press release re-stating that it was not conducting any medical outreach in the Niger Delta generally and Port Harcourt particularly. Independent investigations also revealed that the Nigerian Army troops were nowhere close to any school in Rivers State to carry out any medical programme of any sort despite the false alarm activated by the Rivers State Government.

The APC insists that Gov. Nyesom Wike and the PDP in Rivers State must take responsibility for any untoward outcome that may result from the needless panic mode they have forced innocent people and residents of Rivers State into today. They must accept responsibility for the politically-motivated fake news they activated in the State today and the attendant confusion it has caused law-abiding citizens.

We call on the Nigerian Army and other security agencies to recognise the kind of personae the governor represents and the type of government he runs.  We urge our respected men and women of the security services to rise above the antics of Gov. Wike and his government officials.

Particularly, the Army and other agencies should realise that the dance the Rivers State Government performed today by creating a hoax to discredit the Nigerian Army is a clear manifestation of the frustration that the governor and his government have inflicted on themselves  since their major ally (Indigenous People of Biafra – IPOB) was proscribed. They have since been feeling vulnerable, disorientated and very bitter especially at the Army. The unnecessary animosity by the Wike government towards the Army does not represent the feelings of well-meaning Rivers people.

We reassure anxious Nigerians who reside in other parts of the country especially the North that all is calm and no attacks on any group has resulted from the irresponsible false alarm raised by the Rivers State Government. This is important to quell the anxious calls we have been receiving since this morning against the backdrop of the recent ugly incident in a part of the State.