Posted by The Port Harcout Telegraph on
Fred Alasia, Chief of Staff, Government must be wondering what is happening. Tuesday, a large crowd converged and embarked on a match which would take them to the seat of power in the State.
Fred Alasia, Chief of Staff, Government must be wondering what is happening. Tuesday, a large crowd converged and embarked on a match which would take them to the seat of power in the State.
They had come from all over with an unusual request. That request, almost like the request of the daughter of Herodas wife of King Herod of Israel was for the head of Alasia.
At the gate, security prevented them from any further advance.
The crowd of youthful elements turned around after efforts to persuade them to leave yielded fruit.
At exactly 11.00am.Moscow Road, which is ever busy, particularly in the afternoons, became impassable, completely taken over by members of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF). At the head of the protesters was their leader, Alhaji Asari Dokubo.
The demonstrators numbering about 2,000 moved to the Press Centre.
Addressing the press, Asari Dokubo, who was in good control of his boys, said, "We don't want anybody to die. We don't want a situation where they will say they have been provoked to shoot".
And with the crowd listening in rapt attention, he went on, "we want peace. We feel those who are causing confusion in Government must leave. Alasia has been identified as the person causing trouble. We want a situation that he will leave. We are going to Government House to express our displeasure to government. The various leaders will go; I will not go".
Asari continued, "The peace we are having today is not real peace. There are those who were and still are gaining from the confusion that was in the state. But we will not want this to continue. If their children had died, they would have felt it; if their brothers had died, they would have felt it; if their relations had died, they would have felt it. I want to say that we will not give them any cause to kill us, but we are saying: ALASIA MUST GO! For peace to reign in Rivers State, Alasia must go. A better person must take over that position. This is in the ultimate interest of Rivers State, so that real peace will reign".
The demonstration, he said, was prompted by the fact that "Alasia had paid some people in our land millions of naira to say all sorts of things which are lies", declaring that the leaders of NDPVF were around to attest to that fact.
He equally reiterated that the leader of NDPVF is one General British Columbus Ebikabe, who, he claimed is not from Rivers State, does not have any interest in what is happening in the state and stands by his words.
Nevertheless, Asari went on, a press statement was said to have been published by him (Columbus), but this he (Asari) described as a lie as, according to him, British Columbus would not make such statements except on "critical issues".
Asari said: "We want to tell the Governor that we like the peace that is in Rivers State. we will not want to take away this peace because it is we that are dying; it is we that are suffering, it is our properties that are being destroyed".
Emphasizing the peacefulness of the rally, he said, "This is a peaceful rally as you can see. The police are just out there and we passed and came in here".
However, shortly after his (Asari's) claims, and as the group proceeded out of the press centre and towards Government House, the police were seen shooting canisters of tear gas at the group and at Asari himself which he defied and paced on even towards the police, unpeturbed and apparently less concerned.