Former local government chairmen in Rivers State, on Wednesday, accused Governor Siminalayi Fubara of orchestrating the Tuesday raid by hunger protesters on the Port Harcourt mansion of his predecessor, Nyesom Wike.
While warning that Fubara did not have the monopoly of violence, the ex-LG chairmen promised to mobilise their troops to similarly unleash an attack on Fubara’s properties.
In the midst of a statewide hunger strike, demonstrators marched to Wike’s mansion on Ada George Road in Port Harcourt on Tuesday and laid siege to it, changing war songs and calling the former governor unprintable names.
It necessitated the presence and attention of police officers to repel the demonstrators who sought to enter the mansion.
Speaking on Wednesday under the aegis of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, Rivers State chapter, the chairmen, who were elected during Wike’s tenure as Rivers State governor, accused incumbent Governor Siminalayi Fubara of sponsoring the protesters who stormed Wike’s residence.
Dr. Chidi Lloyd, a former Chairman of the Emuoha Local Government Area, said, “We are aware that he (Fubara) directed the protesters to go to the residence of the minister. We will also organise our people and go to Forces Avenue, where he is building on a 32-plot of land.
“Enough is enough. Fubara does not have the capacity to cow anybody here. He knows it. And we know his properties and those of his cronies.
“All they have achieved has just been mountainous looting of Rivers funds. So he should be very careful. He wants to incite ethnic bigotry here. If what happened yesterday at Ada George repeats itself, Fubara will not even be here to govern the state.
“We will not allow him to destroy all that we have achieved in this state just because he knows nothing about leadership. So the protesters should gather in the government house and ask him what he has done with the N238bn he collected between May and June.”
However, in a swift reaction, Joseph Johnson, the state commissioner for information and communications, said the erstwhile LG chairmen sounded like broken records.
“If you ask me, they have finished their tenure and have gone by our own law. So, what they are doing is meddling in what does not concern them. They are like ordinary citizens.
“If there was anything in sight along the Ada George Road yesterday (Tuesday), I saw protesters who walked past the house of the FCT Minister, and I saw a full presence of policemen. So, I don’t know what they are talking about.
“They are drowning people looking for where to clutch a straw. But if you ask me truly, the information I have is that they have been holding meetings. The one they held today is just the open one.
“They have been holding meetings being sponsored by former Ohio-Akpor Local Government Chairmen where they were charged to do everything to turn the protest into something that will culminate in a state of emergency.
“But all those attempts are the machinations of the wicked. The Bible has said that he disappointed the devices of the enemy so that they would not practice their enterprise.
“What they are doing is like the last kick of a dying horse. They are already gone, and the court has pronounced them as such.”
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
