Gunmen suspected to be cultists in Omoku, Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State have murdered a youth leader and his aide.
The bloody attack sent shockwaves across the entire state and unsettled Omoku community and its environs.
It was gathered that while the aide identified as Chigozie Oluwu was shot and killed on the spot, his principal and President of Omoku Youth Federation, Ifeanyi Azuazu, was abducted and later beheaded with his headless body dumped in a forest.
It was gathered that the gunmen numbering seven stormed a popular drinking joint along Ogolo street, off Palace Road on two vehicles.
The assailants sighted the youth president, pointed a gun at him and ordered him to enter one of their two vehicles.
But Oluwu, said to be a personal guard to the youth president, tried to stop the gunmen from attacking his boss, but was shot dead by the attackers.
The incident created confusion and sent people running to different directions for safety.
The ONELGA Security and Planning Advisory Committee (OSPAC) was said to have recovered the headless body of the Youth President at a forest in Omuku on Friday afternoon.
The Spokesperson for OSPAC in ONELGA,Godnews Nkem confirmed the incident but explained that Oluwu was shot dead at the youth president’s house while the lifeless body of Azuazu was found in a forest hours after his abduction by gunmen.
He advised residents of Omoku to remain calm and allow the police and other relevant security agencies carry out their investigation with a view to arresting the culprit.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), CSP Grace Iringe-Koko confirmed the incident.
She said the killings were cult-related and that the Commissioner of Police, CP Olugbenga Adepoju had ordered an investigation into the incident.
A South-South women’s advocacy group has urged the National Assembly to assume the legislative functions of the Rivers State House of Assembly to resolve the ongoing political tension in the state.
The South-South Professional Women Association International (SSPWAI) argued that Rivers State lawmakers have failed to act in accordance with their constitutional responsibilities, warning that the political unrest could have wider economic and social implications beyond the state.
“Anything that happens in Rivers State affects the national economy; peace, accountability, and the rule of law must prevail,” said Dr. Mrs. Constance Mbang, President of the 27,000-member group, during a press conference in Abuja.
Dr. Mbang stated that SSPWAI, with members across 26 countries, including Nigeria, the USA, Europe, and Asia, opposes any impeachment efforts against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Prof. Ngozi Nma Odu. She described the ongoing political maneuvers as a threat to democratic norms and fiscal prudence.
The group highlighted that the controversy stems from the governor’s rejection of proposals to allocate funds in the state budget for certain political projects, emphasizing that the current budget, running from June 2025 to June 2026, already covers approved expenditures.
SSPWAI further commended the Rivers State Chief Judge for rejecting an order to establish an impeachment panel, noting concerns over the simultaneous targeting of the Governor and Deputy Governor, which they described as a potential move to position the Speaker to take control.
The group pledged to continue advocacy efforts to safeguard constitutional governance and promote stability in Rivers State.
“The current Speaker, Martins Amaewhule, is an Ikwere man, the ethnic group that has ruled Rivers State for a long time before the emergence of Fubara, an Ijaw man. Why not allow an Ijaw man to enjoy his full term of office, as every other ethnic group has done?
“Furthermore, we also call on the National Assembly to immediately take over the legislative duties of the RSHA since they have proved incapable of carrying out their legislative functions in line with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” she said.
SSPWAI also alleged that intelligence available to it indicated that much of the tension may have been driven by promises of N500 million to facilitate the impeachment of the governor and his deputy.
Speaking further on the political undercurrents, the group lamented that the undue influence of an Abuja-based political figure on the Assembly and the frustration of reconciliation efforts, including a peace panel set up by the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) and chaired by former Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Kanu Agabi, SAN.
“The lawmakers were reportedly directed not to honour invitations from the panel. Is that the pathway to peace?” Mbang asked.
The association praised the Rivers State Chief Judge for declining to set up an impeachment panel, describing the move as courageous and constitutionally grounded; it also questioned the logic of moving against both the governor and his deputy simultaneously, adding that such a “hidden agenda” to install the Speaker, Hon. Martins Amaewhule, as governor, may stir serious inter-ethnic tensions.
Explaining concerns over ethnic tensions, SSPWAI noted that while the Ikwerre ethnic group has historically held sway in the state’s leadership, Fubara, an Ijaw man, was being denied the opportunity to serve out his mandate.
“This is not just about personalities; it is about equity, justice, and the right of Rivers people to accountable governance,” the group said.
SSPWAI called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the National Assembly, and the international community to intervene urgently, warning that continued instability in Rivers could threaten investor confidence, particularly among international oil companies, and damage Nigeria’s global image.
The Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Chibuzor Simeon Amadi, has responded to a request from the Rivers State House of Assembly to constitute a seven-member panel to investigate allegations of gross misconduct against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Prof. Ngozi Odu.
The Chief Judge, in a leaked letter, said he was legally restrained from acting on the request because of subsisting interim injunctions issued by the High Court on 16 January 2026 in two separate suits filed by the governor and his deputy.
The court orders barred the chief judge from receiving, processing, considering, or acting on any impeachment-related request or communication from the House of Assembly pending further determination of the cases.
Amadi, in the letter, said he was listed as the 32nd defendant in the suits and that the interim court orders were duly served on his office.
He harped on the supremacy of constitutionalism and the rule of law, insisting that all authorities were bound to obey court orders until they were set aside.
The chief judge acknowledged that the House of Assembly and the Speaker were already at the Court of Appeal challenging the order.
He said he would only act on the requests if the orders of the court were vacated.
Given how quickly the different actors in the Rivers’ political divide have gone back into the trenches, it is obvious that no lessons have been learnt either in the simple understanding of politics as art of the possible, not to talk of the body of organising rules on which the superstructure of governance is grounded and which the feuding parties are supposedly sworn to perform their duties. For if the period between March 18, 2025, when President Bola Tinubu clamped emergency rule on the state and September 17, 2025 when he rolled back the emergency, was supposed to afford the combatants sufficient window for introspection, what ought to be obvious now is how pretty little has changed in any sense. In fact, take out the restraining hand of President Tinubu, the state would probably be back on that uniquely perilous journey characterised by arson, sabotage, and other variants of anomie and delinquency. Remember, the jungle don mature as the governor once proclaimed in a fit of supposedly holy, self-righteous, rage.
And that was even long after the symbol of representative governance – the parliament was torched by – some will argue – agents of the executive. Of course, the bigger drama on the status of the assembly itself would follow later. Indeed, it came in a moment of unforced error, when the majority lawmakers – numbering 27, changed parties on television in Abuja – as against their wards where they registered!
I recall the governor swearing, at some point, that the legislature, not only existed at his pleasure but that the seats of the majority had been voided from then on! Thereafter, he opted to work with a parliament of three members, even when the self-appointed parliament fell short of a quorum in the eyes of the law. From then on, governance, in the Garden City state, simply became a charade – from the budgetary process, the procedural screening of the members of the state executive council, right up to the sham of a so-called local council elections; everything became a one-man show with a throng of conflict entrepreneurs egging the governor on!
While these were going on, the dominant narrative was that the governor, Sim Fubara was the more sinned against, just as his sparring partner, Nyesom Wike, the supposedly vile godfather-Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, was the sinner. An element of that narrative was that Nigerians cared far less about the crimes of arson, the disregard to the constitution and the brazen outlawry that the governor had come to represent than they do of the godfather’s overbearing antics if not volubility! This was what the army of Wike’s opponents, armed with talking points, sold in their media rounds and duly amplified by their media house allies. They probably won that segment of the battle even if in the end, they lost the war rather ignominiously, where it mattered most – the Supreme Court.
February last year, the justices in their 62-page opinion signed by Justice Emmanuel Agim had pointedly accused the governor of democratic subversion.
“Having by his own admission engaged in a series of illegal activities just to prevent the other 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly from participating in the proceedings of the House to carry out their legitimate legislative duties which they were elected to do, his resort to Sections 102 and 109 of the 1999 Constitution and the doctrine of necessity on the basis of his allegation that they have defected is a red herring to perpetuate his subversion of the Rivers State House of Assembly, the 1999 Constitution and democratic government in Rivers State”, part of the judgment read.
More seriously, the apex court would not even be persuaded that a government, properly defined, existed at the time in Rivers State: “A government cannot be said to exist without one of the three arms that make up the government of a state under the 1999 Constitution. In this case, the executive arm of the government has chosen to collapse the legislature to enable him govern without the legislature as a despot. As it is, there is no government in Rivers State”.
The court then made what I consider a point, which I consider particularly relevant at this time: “Political disagreements cannot justify…contempt for the rule of law by the governor of a state or any person. What the 8th respondent (Fubara) has done is to destroy the government because of his fear of being impeached”.
Familiar?
Remember: that was the charade that President Tinubu terminated with the expectation that the feuding parties would use the opportunity to mend their ways. But what do we see months after? The return of the same old playbook in slow motion; of exclusion, of deliberate, systematic emasculation of the legislature – a simple failure to perform a public duty – the constitution of the state executive council. The language though different, conveys the same unmistakeable message: Jungle don mature.
Like in times past, the lawmakers are vexed. And many argue that they have reasons to be – given that the law appears to be on their side. This is particularly so as they are the sole authority on how the monies belonging to the state are spent. And to the extent that they have neither received nor processed the budget instrument on the basis of which the governor could be spending the people’s money, the governor could be deemed to have broken the law. The other matter is that there is no state executive council, properly constituted to run the business of government.
To be honest, the minders of Governor Fubara have not been particularly convincing on either of the issues: the other day, one of them claimed that the governor is still implementing the appropriation passed during the emergency and that the governor has only chosen to run the business of governance with his team of advisers because it is convenient for him!
In the meantime, Nigerians are being asked to choose between the noxious play of the supposedly power-drunk politician and his band of supporters on one hand, and the opportunistic manoeuvres of a wayward godson and his tribe of jesters on the other. Surely, the last thing Nigerians want to indulge is the now familiar swagger of absolutism, of players acting and treating the law as if it exists for mere convenience, and the attempt to deodorise gross misconduct. And now the most tragic of them all: the judiciary being called upon to insert itself into a process that the constitution clearly pronounces as “off limits”!
Yes, I understand the politicians and their mind games and why some doses of madness from their quarters are sometimes necessary to spice up the democratic space. As for the elders – Rivers elders, I understand that those who haven’t gone AWOL have splintered into compartments of ethnicity and the pursuit of lucre. As for the judiciary, I am, sufficiently worried at the ease with which it has been called into the dirty job. The world, surely, is watching!
•Family rejects police claims of generator fume, demands autopsy
Sorrow, grief and anguish unsettled the compound of the Obele family in Ogale, Rivers State on Wednesday. There was wailing from different corners of the house whose occupants had known nothing but agony since January 11.
What could have been responsible for the sudden death of an entire family of six in a single night and in the same enclosure?
Theophilus Obele, father, 49 years old; Eunice, wife, 35; Saka, son, 18; Peace, daughter, 14; Nyimenka, daughter, 7 and Abel Nwaka in-law, 25, all vivacious and young people, slept on Saturday in their village’s two-bedroom flat but could not wake up the next day. They all died untimely with their dreams and aspirations buried in a jiffy.
The Obele 5 returned to their home town in Ogale from Port Harcourt, the capital city of Rivers State on January 1 to enjoy the yuletide in the village as was their regular practice. They spent over a week at the village and got ready to travel back to the city. They invited their in-law, the younger brother to Eunice, wife of Theophilus, to their home to help them in parking their belongings. His arrival increased their number to six.
They had prepared to leave for Port Harcourt on Sunday morning. Theophilus, the father was to resume his work at Onne Port on Monday while the children geared up to return to school the same Monday. Therefore, the Sunday journey was inevitable. Returning to Port Harcourt would take less than an hour’s drive.
The holiday was over and they dreamed of recalling the memories of the period later in Port Harcourt and maybe share their experiences with their friends in the city. But the memories died with them immediately they went to bed on Saturday. They could not wake up to see the daylight of Sunday. Everything paused. No more journey, no more schools and no more work. They were all found stone cold in various positions in the house.
Their deaths shattered the peace of Eleme and sent shockwaves into the spines of everyone that heard about it. How can the entire family die in one night? How can the lineage of one man end in a twinkle without any survivor? Was their untimely demise natural or was there a foul play?
Some wondered if someone had poisoned the food they ate before retiring to bed.
While the confusion of the cause of their deaths persisted, the police said their preliminary investigations suggested that they died from inhaling carbon monoxide from the generator they stationed close to their house.
The police said: “Preliminary investigation suggests possible generator fume poisoning as the cause of death. The generator was reportedly left on in the parlour of the Victims.
“The corpses have been deposited at Last Home Mortuary, Ebubu Eleme, for autopsy. Photographic evidence has been taken, and investigation is ongoing”.
However, the extended family members rejected the first verdict of the police. They maintained that the report was not in tandem with the reality and wondered why the police hastily blamed the cause of death on generator fume.
They argued that since they came back home, the generator had supplied them electricity from the same spot without any issue. Where was the generator located?
Investigations showed that the building where the tragedy occurred is a two-bedroom flat. It has a wide living room. From the main entrance into the living room, there is a door at the right rear that leads to the back of the house.
Behind the door is a balcony and beside it at the right hand side is a three-ft window secured with an iron burglary. It is at that balcony the generator is kept. From the living room at the left rear is a door that opens into another lobby where the master’s and the children’s rooms are located.
This axis of the lobby is far from the balcony where the newly acquired generator was kept. With such distance, most people find it difficult to believe that the generator was capable of producing enough fume to kill the deceased.
The younger brother to Theophilus, Godwill Ogoso, vehemently dismissed the position of the police. He said the deceased bubbled with life on the eve of their death. In fact, he narrated how he spent quality time with his brother till 12am at midnight when he decided to recline into his bed.
He said: “The night before the incident, my brother and family were okay and healthy. We were all together outside till 12am having discussions, because they were supposed to go back on the 11th of January 2026, which was on Sunday.
“He was supposed to resume work on Monday and his kids were expected to resume school too. He works with Onne Port. We were outside till that time when he entered the house and I entered my house too.
“He has been using this same generator on the same spot since 1st of January when he came with his family and nothing had happened.”
Recalling how he discovered the incident and raised the alarm, he said: “I woke up on Sunday and went to the back house to pump water since the generator was on. I pumped till the water was full and I switched it off.
“I noticed that the generator was still on and they were still sleeping. But I decided not to disturb their sleep since they were leaving that same day.
“I entered and slept off till 1pm when my little niece came to tap on the door asked, ‘Uncle, why is brother and the wife still sleeping till this time?’ I shouted, ’till now?’
“By then the generator had gone off. I tried reaching out to them on the phone; the phone kept ringing but no one picked up.
“I kept trying and banging on the door but no one was responding. My mother and my wife kept panicking and I was trying to calm them down, still looking out for alternatives”.
Godwill said he decided to forcefully open the door and became the first to behold the tragedy. Their various positions of death baffled him. Their remains seemed well-arranged in their father’s room. But the remains of the wife were found in the toilet after she had finished defecating.
Godwill tearfully narrated: “I forcefully opened one of the windows because everywhere was locked and they were dead.
“The house is a two-bedroom apartment with children’s room and masters room. What baffles me is how they were neatly arranged in the master’s bedroom.
“How did the children and in-law leave their rooms to be in one room and the wife was found dead in the toilet after stooling?
“The eldest son was found lying by the bed alongside a plate. The first daughter was lying on the bed with saliva and foams from the mouth, same with their last born.
“My brother was on the floor and his in-law was lying beside the door and he was bleeding from the nose and ears without any visible injury.”
The horrible scene could continue to cast everlasting torment to the memories of Godwill till death. “I was shocked beholding that scene. Even the son and daughter too were bleeding.
“When we tried lifting the daughter, we found faeces under her dress too, proving that they struggled till death. There were no suspicious movements in the neighbourhood and we had no issue with anyone,” he said.
Wrapping his head around the possibility of a third party being responsible for the agonising development, Godwill said his family had no issue with anyone apart from what he described as a small land dispute, which he said was swiftly resolved at the police station the same day the incident occurred.
He said: “But we had a small family dispute concerning the building and the fence and we were before the DPO of Eleme police station on Thursday, Friday and Saturday when they closed the case and settled everything about it. That same night, they slept and never woke up again.
“The family involved in the case were not available. We are not accusing anyone, but there’s more to this incident. We are still waiting for the results of the samples collected by the Ministry of Health in Rivers State.”
Insisting that the incident had nothing to do with generator fumes, he said: “We are begging and calling on the government to assist us and speed up the process. We want to know what really killed them. This isn’t generator fumes but a murder case.
“The local government chairman was here to see us and urged the ministry of health to be fast in their investigation. He asked us not to be in haste to bury them because he also is interested in knowing how six persons just died in his local government.
“We thank the chairman for coming. We know it is not easy for him to show up, but he did and has been helpful in playing the role of a leader. He promised us the results would be out. We have a mother who is aged.”
Godwill lamented that his deceased elder brother was the breadwinner of the family and the one taking care of their aged mother. “He is the only one who assists us and now we don’t have anybody to help us.
“We want the government to intervene. My mother is still in shock losing her child, grandchildren, daughter-in-law and in-law. It looks somehow,” he said.
Another young brother to the deceased Theophilus, who identified himself as Elero Obele, said he went outside the community on an errand commissioned by his deceased brother when he received the news of the incident. He said the brother had sent him to bring the elder sister of their mum to come and see the house he built for their mother.
He said: “On Saturday evening around 9 to 10pm, my elder brother called me and sent me on an errand to go pick our aunt from Akposia. She is the elder sister to our mother and he wanted her to come see the house he built for our mother.
“He works at Onne and wanted her to come stay with her since he was going back to Port Harcourt with his family. We concluded that on Saturday night.
“On Sunday, by five minutes past 1pm, I called him based on our agreement but he did not respond. I felt he was in church since I don’t stay here with them.
“I was at Aleto when my younger brother called that I should start coming because our elder brother and family were dead.
“I asked him what happened, he said he did not know because he only realised it when the wife’s sister came and he was calling but no one responded to their calls.
“They noticed from the window. The younger brother of the wife only came in that Saturday night so he could assist them in packing up their luggage.
“According to our customs and tradition, we bathed them before depositing their bodies at the mortuary. No investigation is being carried out yet.
“On Monday, we saw a team from the Rivers State Ministry of Health who came to get samples of the food they ate and the blood samples from their mouth.
“Currently, we are hearing from the Rivers State police command that my brother and family died from generator fumes, which is not correct.
“They haven’t done anything or obtain an autopsy report to truly know wat killed them, so why is the rumour going round that it’s generator fumes?
“The generator was a brand new one, and it was kept there since they came on the 1st of January. We don’t have money to conduct any test. That is the breadwinner of the family who left us without a word.
“We are calling on the government to help us with the test review and let it be in their investigation records if they find out it is related to the fumes as claimed.”
The Executive Chairman of Eleme Local Government Area, Chief Obarilomate Ollor, paid a condolence visit to the family. He described the incident as painful and shocking.
Ollor expressed sorrow over the unfortunate occurrence and conveyed the heartfelt sympathy of Eleme Local Government Council to the affected family. He noted that the loss of multiple family members under such circumstances is a tragedy no household should be made to endure.
He said a comprehensive investigation would be conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, adding that the probe would include necessary medical examinations and autopsy to determine the exact cause of death and rule out any form of human error.
Ollor said the investigation was intended to address public concerns, dispel fears, ensure clarity, and appropriate response where necessary. He urged the bereaved family to find strength and consolation in God during the difficult period, while also encouraging them to remain united and peaceful.
As sympathies poured in for the bereaved family, the police are expected to carry out a full-scale investigation into the matter to determine whether it was actually carbon monoxide emissions from the generator that killed the bubbling family of six.
They must spread their dragnet to capture all potential suspect including those portraying their innocence. But despite the report of any investigation, the painful memory of the incident will continue to haunt the family.
The Africa Centre for Democracy and Leadership (ACDL) has advised the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Chibuzor-Amadi, to exercise caution and uphold judicial independence amid ongoing impeachment proceedings involving Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Deputy Governor Prof. Ngozi Odu.
In a statement issued on Monday, the group said the unfolding political situation in the state underscores the need for the judiciary to remain neutral and strictly guided by constitutional provisions.
The intervention comes as the Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Speaker Martins Amaewhule, continues actions connected to the impeachment process, including a formal request to the Chief Judge to constitute an investigative panel in line with constitutional procedures.
According to ACDL, heightened political tensions between the executive arm and factions within the legislature have made it necessary for judicial actors to proceed with restraint and adherence to due process.
Speaking on behalf of the group, its Executive Director, Barrister Nedu Ekwueme, said the Chief Judge’s role in appointing a seven-member investigative panel, where required, should be carried out without external pressure or political considerations.
“The judiciary must continue to serve as an impartial arbiter and a pillar of fairness within our democratic system,” Ekwueme said.
He noted that public confidence in the judicial process depends on transparency and strict compliance with constitutional guidelines, particularly in politically sensitive matters such as impeachment.
The group referenced previous impeachment cases in Nigeria where courts later reviewed the process, stressing that procedural lapses often complicate governance and deepen political divisions.
ACDL further emphasized that any investigative panel, if constituted, should be properly composed and allowed to carry out its mandate thoroughly within the timeframe prescribed by law.
“The people of Rivers State deserve stability and governance focused on development,” Ekwueme said, adding that adherence to due process would help prevent prolonged political uncertainty.
The group also called on professional bodies, including the Nigerian Bar Association, as well as civil society organisations and other stakeholders, to observe the process and promote respect for the rule of law.
The Rivers State Police Command has arrested one Goodnews Iberi, a 26-year-old native of Rumuakunde Community in Emohua LGA, in connection with the kidnapping and murder of one Rita Special Eleonu, a 25-year-old female from Rumuekini Community in Obio Akpor Local Government Area.
It was gathered that the arrest was following a distress report by the victim’s brother.
A statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), CSP Grace Iringe-Koko said that on December 13, 2025, the suspect and four of his accomplices, at large, lured Rita to Rumuakunde axis in Emohua Local Government Area.
The statement said the suspects kidnapped the victim and later took her to an evil forest along the East/West Road in Emohua.
The police said the suspect collected a ransom N210,000 from the victim’s family before murdering her.
The statement said: “Acting on this distressing, but credible piece of information, operatives of the command attached to the Anti-Cultism Unit (ACU) Emohua annex , utilizing intelligence-led Policing, arrested Iberi on January 8, 2026, at about 0630hrs. in his hide out.
“During preliminary interrogation, the suspect voluntarily confessed to the crime, highlighting his role and further Incriminating four other accomplices.
“The suspect led police operatives to where the victim’s decomposing remains have been recovered from the forest and deposited at the University of Port-Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), morgue for autopsy”.
The police said the suspect was in police custody and an indepth investigation had been launched while efforts were ongoing to apprehend other members of his syndicate.
The statement also quoted the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State, CP Olugbenga A. Adepoju, as commending the diligence and swift action of the operatives in apprehending the suspect.
He encouraged the public to maintain trust in police operations and to support the command with intelligence that could enhance prompt response and strengthen the collective fight against crime.
He further urged citizens to remain calm, vigilant and report any suspicious activities to the authorities, and provide credible information that could aid in the arrest of other members of the syndicate.
Barely weeks after they seemed to have put their animosities behind them, Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State and his predecessor Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have unsheathed their swords again. It didn’t take months in the first instance for the war between the two leaders to break out after the 2023 elections. Since then, they had been at daggers drawn until President Bola Tinubu brokered a peace deal between the warring factions. That deal quickly unravelled even before the ink was dry. Then threats of impeachment followed in quick succession, later a proclamation of emergency that stalled the impeachment, and soon thereafter another tentative peace deal presupposing that the combatants had learnt their lessons. Alas, all along, trench warfare had been unfolding, leading once again to another round of impeachment notice served one way or the other, on the governor last week.
While the war seems to be about political disagreements caused by misdirected loyalties, it is really all about a battle for supremacy between the governor and the FCT minister. Mr Fubara does not appear to know how to sustain a peace deal, in addition to being tactless and insufferable; and Mr Wike seems apathetical to being gracious and patient, in addition to being overbearing. That the war keeps flaring, it is now very obvious, is less a reflection of the contents of the various peace deals and truces reached in the past as it is about the idiosyncrasies of the two politicians unmitigated by time, politics, logic and affiliations. There will perhaps be another round, or even a few more rounds, of making peace, but it is uncertain that any peace penned would last between two men so unalike in their worldviews and so fundamentally opposed politically and behaviourally.
The war had been simmering for months despite strenuous efforts to keep up appearances and paper over the cracks. But the latest battle began when an unreflective All Progressives Congress (APC) national secretary, Ajibola Basiru, speaking at the commissioning of projects in Rivers State three days before Christmas, indirectly endorsed Governor Fubara for a second term in office. Having defected to the APC on December 9, not too long after a majority of Rivers lawmakers headed in the same direction, the governor, it was clear, had indeed begun to nurse a second term. It was probably not the most prudent ambition to exhibit in the circumstances, but it had been rumoured that one of the provisions in the peace deal Mr Fubara entered into related to his abjuration of a second term ambition. This may explain why Mr Wike kept harping on the ‘agreement is agreement’ mantra. But whether true or not, for the deal had never been made public, Mr Basiru, who was in a position to know the dynamic of the Rivers crisis, should have been more circumspect in his utterances.
Last week’s flare up is also speculated to have been partly triggered by Mr Wike’s meddling in the succession battles in a few APC states. Incensed, some APC governors, already aware that the former Rivers governor was resented in President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet due to his rising profile and charismatic politics, threw in their lot with Mr Fubara and let it be known publicly that the governor was being treated contemptuously by a non-APC cabinet member who was becoming too big for his britches. They, therefore, began lending the Rivers governor support for his second term, agreement or no agreement. Mr Wike’s burden is compounded by two militating factors. One is the central role he seems to be playing in the disaffection and distemper coursing through the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), vitiating their politics and rendering them so weakened by dissension that any hope of revival appears foreclosed before the next round of elections in 2027. He is unloved and roundly hated in the opposition, making them wish his downfall. They revel in the animosities he has awakened in the APC and suggest that the ruling party had it coming, and so should not complain after deploying him as a battering ram against the opposition.
The second factor is more troubling and a little nuanced. His enemies in both the PDP and APC do not pull their punches in suggesting cynically that Mr Wike had rested almost his entire relevance in the Tinubu cabinet on how he swung Rivers State for the APC in the 2023 presidential poll. That race and that victory were of course pivotal to President Tinubu’s election, but some APC leaders now say it is discourteous and impolitic to keep hammering on it as if the entire election was won by that singular state electoral success. The Rivers poll victory was part of a collective, they said, albeit a significant part. Mr Wike’s constant iteration of his role in the Rivers poll success has finally driven many APC leaders up the wall, and they are sick and tired of his preening.
President Tinubu, a far better tactician than Mr Wike or any other political leader in the ruling party or in the opposition party today, has been more forbearing of Mr Wike’s excesses. He recognises that his stake in winning the 2027 presidential poll is far more epochal in significance than Mr Wike retaining his political relevance in Rivers. The other APC leaders, some of them popular governors in their own right, are more than ready to give battle to the former Rivers governor. And they have signaled their preparedness to fight, regardless of the cost in 2027. For the president to throw caution to the wind, however, and join them in the fray, they will have to convince him that sacrificing Mr Wike or even weakening his hold over Rivers would cost the APC little or nothing.
Rivers Chief Judge Justice Simeon Chibuzor-Amadi has said that Judges of the High Court of the State will resume sitting on Monday, 13th January after the Christmas vacation.
The Chief Judge in a statement by the Registrar of the State High Court, David Ihua-Maduenyi recalled that he allowed the judges to embark on vacation from December 23rd to January 9, 2026.
The Rivers State Government has clarified that its annual N100,000 Christmas bonus is disbursed to all civil servants and public office holders in the state without discrimination.
In a statement signed by Dr. Honour Sirawoo, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communications, the government said the bonus is paid to all workers, including pensioners, who are captured on the Rivers state government payroll system.
The clarification followed commendation from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) over the recent payment of the Christmas bonus.
While the statement did not mention members of the State House of Assembly, it came a day after the Assembly reportedly returned the bonus to the state treasury.
Sirawoo noted that the N100,000 bonus has been consistently paid over the past three years to civil servants, public officers, and pensioners.
He described the payment as an annual practice and a token of appreciation for the dedication and service of state employees throughout the year.
He further emphasized that Governor Siminalayi Fubara remains committed to proactive measures aimed at providing a social safety net for state employees and their families.
He added that the state government regarded the NLC not merely as a labour union, but also as a critical partner in the “Rivers First” development agenda.
He said that the union’s public acknowledgement of the gesture reflected the cordial relationship between the administration and the workforce.
According to him, workers remain the greatest pride of the Rivers State Government.
“While this bonus is meant to brighten the festive season, our long-term focus remains the continuous improvement of the working environment and the welfare of everyone serving Rivers State,” he said.
