N/Delta group urges Buhari to end killings, arson in Rivers

NIGER Delta Civil Society Coalition (NDCSC) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately put an end to the killings and arson in Ogoniland in Rivers State.

NDCSC, on Saturday in Port Harcourt, through its Chairman, Anyakwee Nsirimovu, described as unacceptable, the current situation in the crude oil and gas-rich Ogoni, with four local government areas of Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme.

In the last three weeks, no fewer than forty innocent persons have been killed in Ogoni, with many valuable properties worth billions of naira destroyed.

The Niger Delta group said: “The deafening silence, in the face of unparalleled impunity and gross violations of fundamental rights in Ogoniland, is a dangerous pointer.

“Ogoniland and other parts of Rivers State are today insecure, because Rivers State government is under conditions of severe political, economic, and physical insecurity, underpinned by very weak governance. Rivers is a strategic state in Nigeria. Governing Rivers must not be a tea party. Awarding contracts and doling out hand-outs cannot be it.

“A state (Rivers) of this critical stature must deliberately advance the causes of security, development and human rights of its citizens. Otherwise, its attempts will not succeed.

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“It has become most obvious to all critical watchers that the people of Rivers State cannot enjoy security without development, they cannot enjoy development without security, and they cannot enjoy either, without respect for the fundamental freedoms of its citizens and residents. Rivers State requires strong institutions, responsible, responsive, capable and effective human capacity, agile enough to pilot, mobilise and coordinate the delivery of its collective political goods for its citizens and residents.”

NDCSC also declared that Rivers State was on its way to catastrophic failure, which it said must be halted without further delay, before the inferno would expand.