Elders urge Amaechi to cancel rally in Ogoniland

Elders from four local government areas that make up Ogoni have called on the Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, to cancel his plan of leading a rally of the All Progressives Congress and the Save Rivers Movement to Bori, Khana Local Government Area on Saturday (today).

The elders, who spoke under the aegis of Concerned Ogoni Elders Forum, made this call on Friday shortly after their meeting to address the political crisis rocking the state.

Amaechi had vowed to lead the rescheduled rally organised by the Save Rivers Movement in Khana after the previous meeting in the area was botched by hoodlums suspected to be militants.

The group maintained that it was necessary for the governor to shelve the idea of holding a rally in any part of Ogoniland in order not to heighten the tension in the area.

Leader of the forum, Chief Kobani Bere, explained that all political gathering in Ogoniland would only be allowed if organisers of such gathering applied and received police permission.

Bere recalled the shooting and attack by political thugs on innocent Ogoni youths on January 19, 2014, adding that Ogoni appears to have been marked for extermination.

He said, “The forum observed that the shooting and the alleged physical attack on our innocent youths by political thugs and stooges amongst us are of grave concern to us as an ethnic nationality.

“The group also observed that in view of the recent actions by agents of government functionaries, including media reports that Governor Rotimi Amaechi will this weekend lead a rally of the APC and the Save Rivers Movement to Bori, Ogoni appears to have been marked for total extermination to pave the way for the much anticipated imposition and marginalization.”

Bere explained that since the electoral laws only allowed campaign to begin 90 days to elections, the governor and his groups should not flout the provisions of the law.

“All political gatherings and or rallies intended to be held in any part of Ogoni (Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme) be communicated to the police and the appropriate permit secured from the police authorities before such gathering is organised,” he said.

PUNCH