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Tag: Magnus Abe

  • Why Peterside is good for Ogoni, Rivers, by Magnus Abe

    Why Peterside is good for Ogoni, Rivers, by Magnus Abe

    Senator Magnus Abe, who represents Rivers South East Senatorial District, has said the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Dr. Dakuku Peterside,  will better serve the interest of Ogoni and other ethnic nationalities as a vote for the Ogoni and every part of Rivers State that is yet to produce a governor.

    He spoke at the APC rally in Nonwa-Tai at the weekend.

    Abe, who is the chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream),  said: “The issues of Riverine and Ogoni are the hottest concern of this election. Therefore, if Peterside, a Riverine man from Opobo, is voted in, then the other issue which is the Ogoni question would be settled in the near future.

    Abe said:  “I will vote for my younger brother, my own person, the candidate I know, Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside and I have my reasons. First is that this election is about the future of Rivers State. No matter what you feel, no matter how you view it, 2015 elections will raise issues of equity for Rivers State. How are we dealing with issues of justice among other component parts of the state that make up Rivers State?

    “The 2015 election raised two major issues of justice and equity. The second question that was raised is the Ogoni issue for justice and equity.

    “In 2015, we must answer one of those questions. We cannot go into an election that does not answer one of these questions around equity and justice in Rivers State. If you are an Ogoni son and you want to see an Ogoni governor in your life time, please vote for Dakuku. If you don’t vote for Dakuku, when the next man comes, all the issues of Riverine and Ogoni will still be on the table.

    “Another reason I will vote for Dakuku is that I know that he has been a part of the present government. He is a student of the present system. He knows what the challenges are, he knows what the situations are. We cannot have somebody who will come and tear down everything we have done.”

  • Why I dumped PDP, by Abe

    Why I dumped PDP, by Abe

    The Senator representing Rivers South East Senatorial District, Magnus Abe, has said President Goodluck Jonathan’s refusal to implement the recommendations of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on Ogoni land made him drop the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    He said his decision to join the All Progressives Congress (APC) was based on the belief that unlike the PDP, the APC, when elected in 2015, will implement the recommendations of the UNEP report.

    Senator Abe, who spoke in Port Harcourt, during a dinner in honour of Ogoni Young Professionals, said the delay in the implementation of the report was not the fault of oil giant, Shell, but that of the Federal Government.

    “About two years ago, Shell told us during its Annual General Meeting in London, that the $1 billion for the clean-up of Ogoni environment was ready and now left for the government to move into action.

    “I have met with the minister several times over the issue and Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who carried same to President Jonathan, but nothing happened.

    “Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who initiated the remediation move is not from the Niger Delta; the late President Musa Yar’Adua, who signed Federal Government’s resolve to implement whatever  the outcome of the investigation is not from the Niger Delta, but someone, who is from the region has refused to implement the UNEP report.

    “I cannot continue to belong to the PDP when those who are in charge of the party have refused to attend to the needs of my people. I decided to leave because of their refusal to implement the UNEP report on Ogoni.”

  • His demise is a big loss, says Abe

    His demise is a big loss, says Abe

    The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Magnus Abe, has said the demise of Justice Chukwudifu Oputa is a huge loss not only to the legal profession but also to the nation.

    Abe, who condoled with the family of the retired Supreme Court judge, noted that Justice Oputa was a legal luminary, an embodiment of knowledge, a philosopher and patriot who interpreted the laws of the land conscientiously.

    “We have lost an ambassador of the legal profession, whose ideal and contributions to the development of our law as a lawyer, author, teacher and judge were legendary,” Abe said.

    The senator hailed the late jurist for the courage he displayed when he was the chairman of the celebrated Oputa panel during the twilight of military government.

    He also said Justice Oputa’s judgements at the Supreme Court would remain reference points in legal circle.

    The senator representing Rivers Southeast called for the reflection of Justice Oputa’s legacies in the nation’s life.

    Abe prayed God to grant the family, the Igbo race and the country the fortitude to bear the loss.

     

  • APC now rooted in Rivers

    APC now rooted in Rivers

    THE Senator representing Rivers South-East in the National Assembly, Magnus Abe, has described the orderly conduct of the Rivers State Congress of the All Progressives Congress (APC) amidst massive turn up of delegates as monumental.

    The Senator who stated this shortly after participating in the party’s State Congress held on Saturday at the Alfred Diete-Spiff Civic Centre, Port Harcourt, said the comportment and peace witnessed during the exercise was a clear indication that APC was now rooted in Rivers State.

    “With the development here today, I am convinced that APC has penetrated the grassroots in Rivers State and will emerge victorious in the 2015 general elections”, Abe declared.

    The Senator said, “APC has come to change the old ways of doing government business; the party is determined to chase out impunity, insecurity and injustice. Nigerians need change; Nigerians want their country back and APC is the answer”.

     

  • NHRC to meet today over Rivers crisis

    NHRC to meet today over Rivers crisis

    The Governing Council of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) will today meet in Abuja to review the escalating crisis in Rivers State.

    Senator Magnus Abe was shot by the police at a rally venue.

    The meeting will also consider the request by the Federal Government to investigate the allegation raised by former President Olusegun Obasanjo that President Goodluck Jonathan was training snipers and had placed 1,000 people on a watch list.

    The Governing Council will also take a look at the bill against same sex marriage recently signed into law by President Jonathan.

    The meeting will discuss modalities and parameters under which to proceed with President Jonathan’s request.

     

  • Jonathan executing coup against democracy, says Tinubu

    Jonathan executing coup against democracy, says Tinubu

    Former Governor of Lagos State Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu yesterday described Sunday’s police disruption of the rally organised by the Save Rivers Movement as a coup against democracy.

    In a strongly-worded statement last night, the All Progressives Congress (APC) leader, said the “brutal disruption” of the rally by Commissioner of Police Mbu Joseph Mbu on the directive of the Goodluck Jonathan administration adds “another dimension to the dangerous course this government has charted.”

    Tinubu said: “The People of Rivers State and of the Save Rivers Movement did nothing wrong. What the police did was criminal. The violent and direct attack on Senator Magnus Abe is a frontal assault against democracy. The Jonathan government, which is supposed to protect the public order, now constitutes threats against the very thing they have pledged to uphold. The police have been unleashed on the people.”

    The former governor also wondered why the police felt compelled to shoot and beat “unarmed fellow citizens” whose only offence was the difference of their political affiliation to the Federal Government. He said the events in Rivers showed a disdain for the law and its rule.

    He condemned the Police for the role it played in the event saying it had become a tool of political oppression. “The police no longer arrest, they are primed to shoot first and ask questions later. We are supposed to live in a constitutional democracy, but we are burdened with a Police Force that has now become an agent provocateur and a tool of political oppression. They are the partisan, strong-arm division of the Jonathan Presidency.”

    Giving the Jonathan administration more flaks, Tinubu said the Federal Government wanted to break down democratic institutions in the country. He said the presidency cannot take away the “alienable rights” of Nigerians to associate with any political party of their choice.

    “Sadly, a Presidency that was a major beneficiary of constitutional democracy conspires in Abuja to desecrate our political rights and mortgages our democracy. This government doles out money from the public treasury, not the private pockets of the Abuja despots to service hired mercenaries and political thugs. It is a deep tragedy that the public’s money is being used to employ people and weapons to shoot at the public. This is the depth of political immorality.”

    He accuses Jonathan of lording it over Nigerians: “The Jonathan Presidency is willing to sacrifice the lives of countless Nigerians so that it can continue to lord it over Nigerians. If they could shoot a current Senator in broad daylight on a Sunday, imagine the mayhem they will set upon the average citizen seeking to advance his political rights. Their purpose is not to govern Nigeria but to break down the rule of law and our democratic institutions so that they may own Nigeria.

    “The illegal conduct of the Police in Rivers should be called what it is; it is uniformed gangsters, a coup against democracy. The rights and the protection guaranteed to the Nigerian people should never be a function of the party they are affiliated with. Under the current Jonathan government, we move towards fascism.”

    Tinubu called on the National Assembly to stop the impunity before it is too late. “The National Assembly must rise to its statutory responsibility in defence of the people’s rights and to exercise legislative oversight of an executive branch through the police and a Presidency that has lost all sense of democratic balance and fair play. If the Assembly does not rise at this junction, things will only worsen and at some point, they will be forced to confront the violent misbehaviour of a government intent on perpetuating itself.”

    He called on Nigerians to set themselves in “vocal and sure opposition” to the authoritarian evolution of the Jonathan administration, while urging the international community to prevail on the Jonathan administration not to push the people to the wall.

  • Rivers under siege, say Pro-Amaechi group, APC, MOSOP

    Rivers under siege, say Pro-Amaechi group, APC, MOSOP

    The pro-Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s Save Rivers Movement (SRM), the Rivers chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni Peoples (MOSOP) have described Rivers Commissioner of Police Mbu Joseph Mbu, as a liar.

    According to them, the state is under siege.

    SRM, APC and MOSOP said yesterday that Mbu did not say the truth on Sunday’s police shooting of Senator Magnus Abe.

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Rivers chapter, however, accused Amaechi and his allies of desperation.

    The Chairman of the SRM, Aholu Charles, told reporters in Port Harcourt that there was no official communication to hold the group’s Obio/Akpor Local Government’s inauguration at the Rivers State College of Arts and Science, which was disrupted by the police.

    The SRM said: “What the police did yesterday (on Sunday) was callous, an affront to the lofty guarantees provided by Chapter 4 of the constitution of Nigeria. It is barbaric; it is simply an attempt to replace democracy with autocracy. It is simply an attempt to subvert the rights of Nigerians and an attempt to undermine the Rivers man.

    “Precisely on the 7th of January, 2014, the SRM notified the police authorities and we have a copy of that notification, of our rally in Obio/Akpor and Khana local government areas and it is stamped received.

    “The assertion by the CP that there was no form of communication of our programme is not only false; it is an attempt to stop us from legitimately pursuing our objectives, as provided under the Constitution of the SRM and enjoying our rights as guaranteed by the Constitution of Nigeria.

    “We want to state that the issue of police permit has been settled. It is not an issue that is in dispute. We do not need the permission of the police to hold rallies. What we did was to notify the police of our activities, so that they could provide us with security. We held our rally in Eleme and we notified them. The crime of the notification is such that they (police) did not respond.

    “There is no official letter from the police to say you can hold your rallies, you cannot hold your rallies. All they did was to mobilise their men to the venue of the event and disrupt the rally. So, that assertion cannot hold water.”

    MOSOP, through its President, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, said: “We condemn, in strong terms, the highhandedness and excessive use of force by the police on members of the SRM, which led to the shooting of the Senator representing Rivers Southeast Senatorial District, Senator Magnus Abe, an Ogoni.

    “We had hoped that politics in this dispensation will be played with civility, decency and devoid of political violence. The current level of political intolerance in the country and in Rivers State, in particular, is deeply troubling and condemnable.

    “Recognising that the Ogoni people made so much sacrifice for democracy, which is being enjoyed in the country today and for which we have not benefited commensurably, we deplore the situation where any Ogoniman would become the first victim to be sacrificed on the altar of political acrimony or political violence in Rivers State.

    “We consider the action of the police as unprofessional, insensitive and an unfortunate demonstration of the growing regime of impunity in the country, which we must all rise up to tame, if democracy must survive. No matter what might have happened, the SRM or Senator Abe did not merit such level of cruelty.

    “Never again shall we allow the blood of any Ogoni person, irrespective of political persuasions, political parties or affiliations, to be spilled needlessly in the name of politics.”

    The umbrella organisation of all Ogoni people also demanded that the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar, and the Federal Government should urgently probe the shooting, with a view to bringing the perpetrators to justice

    MOSOP called on Ogoni youths to remain calm.

    The APC, through its Interim Rivers Chairman, Chief Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, accused Mbu of lying, “in his desperation to minimize the public outrage that had rightly trailed his unfortunate actions”.

    The main opposition party said: “We find it necessary to correct the wrong account of events given by CP Mbu, including his claim that we applied for police permit for most of our rallies, but failed to do so for the Obio/Akpor rally. This is a blatant lie.

    “We have never applied for police permit for any of our rallies, but for police protection. We applied for police protection for the Obio/Akpor rally, but instead of granting our request, CP Mbu sent his men to disrupt the rally and kill our people, apparently on the orders of his sponsors in Abuja.

    “We are not surprised. Since CP Mbu is a key member of the PDP, which has been behaving like a wounded lion, since losing the strategic state of Rivers. Mbu does not deserve the uniform and rank he is wearing. He has demonstrated his crass ignorance of the relevant sections of the Constitution that give Nigerians the power to associate freely, without any need for police permit. He should hide his face in shame.

    “CP Mbu is a security risk in Rivers State. He is an agent of destabilisation. Since the IGP can no longer call him to order, we hereby plead with the National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.), to intervene and ensure CP Mbu’s redeployment. He should leave our State, as his presence in Rivers portends evil.

    “We urge CP Mbu and his sponsors to pray and fast seriously that Senator Magnus Abe gets better, as we cannot predict what will happen, if he loses his life by the misguided stand of CP Mbu, the politician.”

    The APC said if the Sunday’s show of shame by the police was a test run on what to expect during the 2015 general elections, Nigeria is in danger in the hands of politicians so desperate to use the police to intimidate Nigerians.

    The PDP, through the Special Adviser to the Chairman on Media, Pastor Jerry Needam, however, noted that the attack on some sections of the Gokana Local Government (Ogoni) council secretariat yesterday by angry youths, vindicated its earlier position that the shooting of Abe was dramatised and full of fictions.

    It said: “We note with bitterness, the level of desperation on the side of Governor Amaechi and his allies, which led them to hire thugs to cause obstructions to movement and activities along the Ogoni axis of the East-West Road early today (yesterday), in a quest to draw attention to the alleged shooting of the Senator (Abe) yesterday (on Sunday) in Port Harcourt.”

  • Eleme/Ogoni youths protest attack on Abe

    Eleme/Ogoni youths protest attack on Abe

    Souths from Eleme and Ogoni communities in Rivers State staged a huge demonstration to protest “the attempted murder” of Senator Magnus Abe by policemen.

    Abe, an Ogoni, was shot by policemen trying to stop a rally on Sunday. The army of youths, as early as 5:30 am, barricaded the double lane Eleme/Ogoni axis of the East-West road, spreading from Aleto Bridge to the Eleme Refinery junction. They blocked the road with trucks, preventing movements.

    They were complaining about their polluted environment and other issues.

    Ogoni, especially Eleme and Onne, is host to most of the Federal Government’s oil, gas and maritime companies in the area.

    Two refineries, the Petrochemical, oil and gas free zone, among others, are located in the area. The barricaded road is the only access road from Port Harcourt where most workers in the employ of these companies reside and are conveyed to work in their official vehicles before 7:00 am every day.

    Officials of these companies were at the Eleme Junction, Port Harcourt, after 7:00 am, stranded in their company vehicles. Some of the companies sent their workers back home to avoid any casualty.

    Many motorists who ran into the protesters abandoned their vehicles to escape being attacked. Truck and trailer drivers were forced to park their vehicles in such a way that they would block the road.

    Keys of some vehicles were retrieved from the drivers. Others had their front tyres deflated.

    The protest went on for hours, until the police intervened.

    Micheal Idoko, a tipper driver who had the windscreen of his vehicle smashed, said: “I was going to work this morning, about 6:30am. On getting to this point (close to the Aleto bridge), I noticed that people were running back. I quickly parked by the side and joined. On my return, I noticed that my vehicle had been smashed.

    “It was not only my vehicle that was vandalised; several others were involved.”

    A commercial driver, Mr. Sunny Monday, whose car key was taken from him by the rampaging youths, said: “I am a commercial driver. I ply Bori to Eleme junction. I was coming from Bori and on getting to Akpaju Bridge, I noticed that a lot of people were trekking while vehicles had parked with none going or coming.

    “I equally parked and worked up to the bridge to ascertain what had happened. On getting to the bridge, I noticed that they had used trailers and trucks to block the road, I decided to come back to my car so I could go back to Bori.”

    “On getting to my car, the boys came and forced my key out of me and now I can’t find any of them to get my key back. I’m now stranded here. I don’t have any other key.”

    The police dispersed then youths and cleared the road. The police arrested scores of them.

    Police spokesman Ahmed Mohammad said he was in Abuja and could not comment on the arrest.

    The protesters regrouped at various points to continue the protest.

    Comrade Friday Needam, who led the protest, said no amount of police humiliation would stop Ogoni people.

    He said the protest was necessary because the blood of an Ogoni was involved, adding that the best prayer for the country is that nothing should happen to Abe.

    “We are warning the politicians not to use the blood of Ogoni man to cleanse Rivers State or Nigeria, Nigeria cannot continue to be using the blood of Ogoni man as a sacrifice in political temple to redeem the past; it can no longer happen.”

  • Lawmakers, others condemn police attack on Abe

    Lawmakers, others condemn police attack on Abe

    Some lawmakers, including the House of Representatives Minority Whip Samson Osagie and the Chairman of the Lagos State House Committee on Information, Strategy, Security and Publicity, Segun Olulade, yesterday condemned the Sunday attack on Senator Magnus Abe in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.

    Also, rights activist, Comrade Femi Aborisade, berated the police for its action.

    Osagie told reporters in Benin, the Edo State capital, that the police action was the result of the desperation of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to cling to power at all costs.

    He said: “The PDP has become desperate. Only on Friday, they went to court to stop the All Progressives Congress (APC) from effecting a change of leadership in the House, as dictated by law. Even in the Senate, the PDP has been fighting defection threats by some members.

    “This has made the PDP to become more desperate so much that a leading senator was shot (on Sunday night) in Rivers State and is critically ill. This is part of the impunity and reign of terror that the Goodluck Jonathan administration has imposed on the Nigerians.”

    Olulade noted that security had taken a flight from Rivers State with the continued stay of Mr Joseph Mbu as the police commissioner.

    He said what it appeared the police chief was acting to a political script sent to him from Abuja.

    “The incident, which has been confirmed by the Personal Assistant to the Senator, Siranwo, said Senator Abe had led members of Save Rivers Movement to a venue where they were to hold an inauguration and thanksgiving programme for the Obio-Akpor chapter of the group. He said the senator was shot directly by the police with a rubber bullet while policemen were preventing the group from going ahead with the peaceful event,” Olulade said.

    The lawmaker said he was surprised that security men, who are supposed to protect the people from harm, were firing bullets at unarmed people, including a serving senator.

    He added: “The office of the senator of the country is bigger than what Mbu and his principals understand it to be. The attack was simply politically motivated and no alibi can be accepted from the Commissioner of Police to exonerate himself from deplorable state of security and threats to the lives of Rivers State people.

    “The President cannot claim to enjoin people to live together in peace and at the same time continue to overlook acts threatening Nigeria’s unity, such as the situation that has persisted in Rivers State. That is cynical and unfaithful to Nigerians.

    “Whatever the case, I believe the progressive class will continue to remain undaunted, even in the face of threats and assaults on democracy, as being perpetrated by the ruling party. The progressives will continue to work hard until democracy is truly entrenched.”

    Aborisade said the Sunday attack by the Rivers State Police Command on Senator Magnus Abe during a peaceful rally by the Save Rivers Movement was an act of barbarism that should be probed.

    In a statement yesterday in Lagos, Aborisade said the police suppression of a peaceful rally was unconstitutional.

    He said: “The unjustified suppression of the Save Rivers Movement, involving the reported death of unknown number of children, teargas suffocation of several others and shooting of rubber bullets at participant is condemnable.

    “This also includes the shooting of Senator Abe. This is not just an attack on the organisers of the All Progressives Congress (APC); it should be seen as an attack on those who cherish the values of democratic society and the fundamental right to peaceful protest.”

    Aborisade called on organised labour, human right orbanisations in conjunction with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to investigate the matter and all the culprits made to face the law.

    Also, thousands of armed policemen were yesterday deployed in Eleme Refinery Road in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, to thwart a planned peaceful demonstration by Ogoni youths over the shooting of Senator Magnus Abe by Rivers State police.

    The angry protesters, at 6.20am yesterday, blocked the Elelewo Junction, Eleme Petrochemical and Refinery Road. This caused a serious traffic jam in the area.

    But by 7.45am, policemen were deployed in the area to disperse the protesters.

    A leader of the protesters Comrade Friday Needam said: “The police have been chasing us since morning; we will continue to run for safety and regroup in other areas where police have not mobilised their men. The police in Rivers State are on a dangerous mission.

    “We want the people of this country to pray that nothing happens to Magnus Abe because Ogoni people will not allow any Ogoni man to be killed again like Saro-Wiwa and others were killed by the Federal Government and its agents.

    “We are warning the politicians not to use the blood of an Ogoni man to cleanse the Rivers State or Nigeria. This country cannot continue to use the blood of an Ogoni man as a sacrifice in the political temple to redeem the past. It can no longer happen.”

     

    Another protester Joseph Barinedam said the police arrested eight Ogoni protesters and injured several others as they ran for safety.

    He said the youths were praying for Abe to recover from the police attack.

    Barinedam said: “They (police) should be ready to shoot us the way they did to Senator Abe, if anything happens to him. Abe is human and cannot be killed like an animal. The Federal Government is looking for trouble in Rivers State. It is now that the trouble has begun. Let’s watch out on Abe’s health.”

  • ‘PIB will become law before 2015’

    ‘PIB will become law before 2015’

    The National Assembly would pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) before the 2015 general elections, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Downstream Sector, Magnus Abe, and his House of Representatives counterpart, Dakoko Peterside, have said.

    Both law makers who spoke during the 2013 Oil Trade and Logistics (OTL) Exhibition for Downstream Operators in Lagos, yesterday, said the National Assembly has found out that the PIB is critical to the growth of the industry and the economy, and have resolved to pass the bill before 2015.

    Abe, who stood in for the Senate President, David Mark, said the passage of the bill was delayed because of some knotty issues, adding that the Senate has resolved to do its best to ensure its passage soon.

    He explained that the Senate delayed the passage of the bill because of the problems outside it. “We have decided to come out with a time-table on how to deal with issues affecting the bill,” he said.

    He said investments in the downstream sector is in excess of N1.8trillion, adding that Nigeria is one of the highest consumers of petroleum products in the world.

    He said Nigeria will not only become a hub, but would dictate the price of petroleum products in Africa, if its refineries were working well.

    Dagogo explained that the bill has passed through the first and second reading without any dissenting voice raised against it.

    He explained that the Public Hearing on the bill was held in the Six-Geo-political zones of the country. This was followed by another hearing in Abuja where representatives of major oil companies were in attendance.