My dear people of Rivers State,
I welcome you to this special state-wide broadcast. I had intended it to be a nationwide broadcast but the federal authorities frustrated me. So, I decided to settle for a state-wide broadcast. And in this Internet age, I have instructed that it should be streamed live on Rivers Television’s website because of the importance of the message. I have also taken out advert space in the print media to run the full text of this broadcast.
Fellow Riverians, I am sure by now you all know of my heroic midnight act some days back when I aborted the abduction of a Federal High Court Judge by the Department of State Service (DSS) in Port Harcourt.? DSS men came like a thief in the night. They claimed to have a search warrant but carried on as though they were armed robbers.
The DSS men arrived at the home of the judicial officer in a manner disturbingly similar to how Boko Haram marauders stormed the Government College in Chibok in 2014. This might look like a tragic parallel to draw like one of my commissioners has pointed out, but a thread of impunity runs through both incidents.
In these instances, the invaders, I dare say, acted outside the law and their victims committed no crimes. I was just passing by the scene around 1am when I noticed the commotion. As a lawyer and someone whose love for justice is legendary, I could not but intervene. I was with the chairman of our great party, Bro. Felix Obuah, our State and National Assembly members, former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Austin Opara; and some caretaker chairmen.
Fellow Riverians, my intervention led to the DSS men harassing me. They dragged me and threatened to shoot me. They acted like men under the influence but I maintained my calm. I remained focused on my mission, which was to prevent these crazy men from abducting a judge whose sin was upholding the rule of law.
It is only the National Judicial Council (NJC) that has the responsibility to discipline errant and corrupt judges. It is only after this that the indicted judicial officers can be handed over to the relevant law enforcement agency for prosecution. This sort of practice also exists in the police, army and other para-military agencies. In the police, errant and corrupt policemen are first given orderly room trial and sacked before being prosecuted.
The right things must be done. We must not do things that will jeopardise our hard-earned democracy. If the DSS had succeeded in abducting the judge, they could have gone ahead to kill him and use that as another evidence of their claim that Rivers State is insecure.
To justify their barbaric act, the DSS men claimed the judge, who I did not bother to even find out who he was before helping out, was hiding a bribe in his house. They claimed the bribe ran into $2 million. That in Naira is N900 million. For me, this is far-fetched. The DSS only created this story to ?whip up public sentiment against the judge. It is really unfortunate that DSS has concocted a false defence. It is unfortunate the DSS is coming up with flimsy excuses.
How can anybody in his right sense, without any psychiatric disorder, keep N900 million in the house? How could DSS be outside and declare that N900million was found in the official residence of the judge? What is he hiding that the money was not taken to the bank? These are some of the posers I asked myself before coming to ?the conclusion that the DSS men were blatant liars. While I do not condone corruption, I will never support any process targeted at ruining the nation’s judiciary.
Fellow Riverians, in this age of scarce dollars, it is simply impossible for an individual to have that kind of money. The DSS simply wanted to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it.
As your governor, I have immunity from arrest and the kind of treatment the DSS meted out to me that day. As a result of this, we have decided to take on this secret service agency, which chose to violate our laws.
Your governor should not be treated like a common criminal and you let it go that way. So, the Commissioner for Justice and the Attorney-General of the State is putting finishing touches to a suit against the DSS. As a governor who believes so much in transparency and accountability, let me share with you some of the reliefs that we will be seeking.
One, the DSS DG must prostrate in the full glare of national, continental and international media for the assault on me. Two, the DSS must sign an undertaking that never again will it carry out any arrest in this state without informing me and that if I disapprove, the action cannot be carried out. Three, the DSS must plead guilty to lying about the presence of $2 million in the home of the judge. Four, the DSS must admit that the public statement it on the botched abduction was the sorriest justification for executive lawlessness in a democratic dispensation.
Fellow Rivers, my fifth relief is that the DSS must admit that my midnight act was a courageous act in support of the supremacy of the law. The DSS must also admit that my intervention is the sort of sacrifice every Nigerian must be prepared to make. We will also be seeking a relief to compel the international community to intervene because Nigeria’s fragile democracy is facing its gravest existential threat in nearly two decades.
My people, I will also be seeking an order declaring me Nigeria’s ultimate outdoor governor as earlier conferred on me by my Commissioner for Information and Strategy. My heroic act of some days back sure prove that time is not an enemy for me when I need to play by role as the Good Samaritan.
For those who may wonder why this broadcast. Well, I have done this in view of the propensity of the DSS and other security agencies to use the media to manipulate information. We cannot afford to relax the way things are going. We must be vigilant so as to defeat the dictatorship that is trying to take over our land.
Freedom is never served a la carte. Independence is never earned on a platter of gold. Liberty has sacrifice as its price. And injustice is an evil we must fight. Let us prove to them that nobody can intimidate Rivers people.
Thank you and God bless.