Posted by By Louis Odion on
Rivers State governor-elect, Sir Celestine Omehia has for the first time spoken about the hell his mother went through in the hands of her abductors.
Rivers State governor-elect, Sir Celestine Omehia has for the first time spoken about the hell his mother went through in the hands of her abductors.
Unknown gunmen kidnapped Madam Omehia from her home in Obima, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State on April 30, barely two weeks after the son was declared winner of the April 14 gubernatorial election in the state.
Speaking exclusively with Sunday Sun, Omehia, who gave a graphic picture of how his mother was kidnapped, also told of how her abductors had threatened to drown her if he failed to meet their demands.
Claiming that the masterminds have been unmasked and that the motive was political, he said: 'In the creek where they were, when they heard that we had arrested one of them, they called me and gave the phone to my mum. I spoke with her. She told me she was inside a boat on water. They were threatening to throw her into the water if I did not talk to them. I felt terribly bad. I told her to be calm and that she should give them the phone. So, I spoke to them."
The governor-elect also spoke on his political stand-off with the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi who incidentally is his first cousin.
Excerpts:
Sir, congratulations once more on your election. I am sure that since April 14, your schedule has changed. Could you share your peculiar experiences since then?
The situation before April 14 is drastically different from now having been elected and one's title has changed from candidate to governor -elect. Therefore, a lot of expectations are being looked out for. We are trying to get up to the standards before the swearing-in. Yes, there are many visitors, people coming in to felicitate and appreciate us and to thank God for what He has done. On our part, we are also getting ready for the swearing-in on the 29th of May. To this end, we have set up several committees and given them instructions.
They have different functions. The inauguration committee is basically to look at May 29th proper and the Transition Committee is to look at my promises during the campaign period. They are also to interface with the ministries and commissioners, get the record of assignment of the commissioners, what they have done and what they have not done.
What is pending and if possible, write a road map for a new beginning bearing in mind that we are working on a solid foundation already laid by his excellency, Dr. Peter Odili. At the conclusion of their assignment, we believe that the Transition Committee would give us something that we will use as a stepping stone to the new beginning in 2007. But in addition to that, a lot more can be done outside the Transition Committee. There are some of my friends who are advisors on the economic development of Rivers State outside what the Transition Committee will bring. So, it has been quite busy. I have to attend to several other issues within and outside Rivers State to lay the foundation for May 29 and thereafter.
It is said that time changes people.
The talk in town has been that you are unassuming and all that. Are we going to see a change in attitude after May 29th?
I wish we could have a video recording of me now and see my conduct and character after inauguration. I am one person that is not influenced by position. I have seen it before. I was Commissioner for Education in 1992/1993. When I left office, I still went back to the Bar to practise. Thereafter, I came back. My advice to present commissioners is that they should not be carried away by positions they occupy. It is not theirs, it is God's. You are holding it in trust for the people.
If you over-assume it, by the time the position is taken away from you, you will not find a place to sit down with them. I have also told lawyers when I went for my campaign, that I am holding this position as a brief for every Rivers man and when the Rivers people will say, ‘Celestine, your four years or eight years is up, come back,' I will say ‘Thank you for giving this great opportunity' and I will go back quietly and live my normal life. So, all I want is to do the best in Rivers State for the Rivers man and not the best for myself. If I put the people first and God first, I don't think I will be carried away.
I need to focus on the interest of the people. I don't think the load would allow me to be carried away.
I am very sorry about the recent incidence of the abduction of your mum. How did the news get to you?
It was about 9:30 in the night of April 30. I had a call from my village, Obima in Ikwere Local Government Area of Rivers State.
My younger brother, Anthony, called me and said that somebody called him that some strange fellows came into our compound, forced my mum out of bed and drove off with her. According to accounts, they came in two red cars. I was both angry and panicky. I called my friends and police and they started racing back to Obima. Fortunately on the road, they caught one of the vehicles and took them to police station and the person made a confession. That was how we started trailing and tracing where the rest were.
It was a bad omen. It was a big embarrassment to the people of Rivers State. It was a big embarrassment to Nigeria. Every international media organisation carried the news. I had the mental torture but the people of Rivers State and Nigerians suffered disgrace.
Was it an incidence of criminality or was it politically motivated?
It was politically motivated. A group, I do not want to mention their name here, who are internal political opponents planned and carried it out. However, because we made the early arrest, luck ran out of them and they talked to us. Assuming we did not make the arrest, it would have been a different story.
What were your mum tell you?
In the creek where they were, when they heard that we had arrested one of them, they called me and gave the phone to my mum. I spoke with her. She told me she was inside a boat on water. They were threatening to throw her into the water if I did not talk to them. I felt terribly bad. I told her to be calm and that she should give them the phone. So, I spoke to them.
What were they asking for?
They asked that we release their boy we were holding and some financial inducement.
Did you release him and pay the ransom?
We did and they released my mum. But we didn't pay any ransom. It was a terrifying exchange. We did not trust them and they did not trust us. The police lived up to expectation. They got close to the creek, saw my mum and released the boy.
Was your mum affected by the incident to the point of asking you to stay out of politics?
She did not say so. She was naturally scared when these people threatened to push her into the water if I did not talk to them. They told her that if her son was not careful in his political activities, he would be hurt.
Since you know the political masterminds, are you folding your arms? Aren't you going to press charges?
The police are taking their natural process and necessary action. We know that this kind of attitude cannot continue. Whether political or criminal violence, the government of Rivers State will fight against such acts.
Speaker Rotimi Amaechi is challenging your emergence as PDP candidate and subsequent victory in the gubernatorial race. A lot of people are surprised of your biological relationship. How do you feel about it?
It is very unfortunate and against what Christianity preaches. Rotimi is my first cousin. For all I know, I never expected what is happening to him now. I feel he is not only fighting against me but he is fighting against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It is quite unexpected because the party had given him all the necessary support from the time I was Commissioner of Education until I became the candidate of the party. When he was nominated or elected in whatever form, I played active role to support him.
I still take him as my brother. Whatever condition he is today, I contributed one way or the other to uplift him politically. There are no two ways about that.
It is expected of him to do same for me. But I won't hold it against him at the end of the crisis. I will take him back as my younger brother. That is what God expects of all of us. He has been misguided and misled. I pray that God should teach him what to do so that he will do it right because as at now, God has not touched his heart.
How about the Ikwere elders, haven't they intervened?
They have made several efforts to bring him to talk to us but he has refused to talk to the elders of Ikwere. Four Reverend Fathers from Obima made several attempts to see him in Abuja but he refused to see them. The political elders of PDP also made attempts to see him.
Let us forget who made attempts, what is important is that the party is fighting a just cause. I want him and others to understand that only God gives positions. At the appropriate time, God will give everybody his position. If it is the will of God that he would be a governor, he won't sweat too much about it.
It will just come. If it is the will of God that he would be a minister, it would just come but if it is not the will of God, he could go from court to court, from tribunal to tribunal, but he would not be. So, we should sometimes sit back and watch our backs and reflect and ask questions. I just wish as my brother, he would sit down one day and ask God what he has in store for him.
You are taking over from Dr Peter Odili who, to numerous supporters, has done well. Considering the shoes he is heaving behind, do you feel intimidated?
I feel very lucky to have met him and stepped into his shoes.
There is this saying that God cannot give you a load you cannot carry. If God gives you a load, he would also give you the means of supporting you. My boss, Dr. Peter Odili, has achieved a lot and a lot, therefore, is expected of me. I believe that God that has chosen me to serve as the governor of Rivers State will also give me the strength, courage, wisdom and grace to succeed and surpass Peter Odili's standard.
I have no fear. I will achieve much more than my boss achieved for the people of the state. From the beginning, I have been in the system. When Odili was deputy governor, I was Commissioner for Education. From 1999 till date, I have been his Personal Assistant, Special Assistant, Senior Special Assistant and Executive Assistant.
I have been very fortunate that in all his meetings, I have been present, taking notes and reminding him of whatever was left to be done. In all his meetings for policy decisions, I have always been present. That gives me the opportunity to know what he has done, the way he has done them and how I should do them. That is the grace I have and God is going to strengthen me to surpass what he has achieved.
I am not scared. I can tell you, there is a saying in my place that if a person is not present when a corpse is buried, if you tell him to exhume it, he would start from the wrong angle but if he was present, he would start from the right angle. I was present and I am going to deliver.
Going back in history, we've had cases where godfathers and governors or political godfathers and godsons falling apart once power changes hands and the battle would become so fierce, so bitter and all that.
Do you foresee this happening between you and Odili?
It is not possible. If anything would mislead me into fighting Odili because of governance, I would rather drop the governance and do his bid. He has been instrumental to my political rise. God has used him to get me where I am and it is the same God that has used him to get me where I am that will continue to unite us. I cannot see myself fighting him or the elders of the party. I have asked God to continue to give us a united mind so that we will always have a common interest and by the grace of God there would be no separation between Dr. Odili's family and my own.
On a final note, what should Rivers State people expect from you?
First and foremost, the people of Rivers State should expect that I would continue Odili's projects and programmes. Power plants, power generation must come on full stream during my time. We generate power, we evacuate power but we have not started effective power distribution in the state because of technical hitches. We will fight for that and make sure that power is effectively distributed in the state. All other projects of Peter Odili we will complete and come up with our own new ideas. He has built an image for the people. Anywhere in Nigeria today, a Rivers man is proud to say ‘I am from the state.' I am happy about that. That is the making of Peter Odili.
I am proud to be one of those benefiting from it. If God leads me to the further solidification of his personalities and values, I would do more than that. For now, what is paramount is consolidation of his legacies. I am calling on the people to be with us and have their faith in God and us so that we can build a Rivers State of our dreams, a state where there would be peace, where violence would be a thing of the past.
The garden city of old where people can go to party and return home early in the morning, a state where issue of miscreants, militancy will die off, a garden city where foreigners would come and live and do their business and a garden city where all Nigerians will feel free to live. I have a five-point programme called SIIRE.
We have faith that by the time we conclude our five point agenda, SHIRE, there would be a new Rivers State. By the time we finish with human development which has to do with the health of the people, education of the people and infrastructural development. The joy of an ageing father, they say, is the presence of a worthy successor and I am happy that Dr. Peter Odili has a worthy son in me.