Federal High Court in Port Harcourt has granted an interim injunction, restraining the commission of inquiry on political killings headed by Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, in Rivers State from operating.
The commission, which was set up by Governor Rotimi Amaechi, on April 16, was expected to begin sitting on Monday, May 4, having received memoranda from members of the public.
But the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in the state had, in the suit, moved against the setting up of the commission.
Justice H.A. Nganjiwa gave an order restraining the respondents from taking further action in connection with the sitting of the panel pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction that was set by the 10th respondent (Amaechi) pending the determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.
Nganjiwa stated that in view of the urgency attached to the matter, the court had abridged the time for the respondents to file their responses within three days upon service.
The judge said: “An order restraining the Respondents from taking further steps in connection with the sitting of the commission of Inquiry, instituted by the 10th Respondent (Governor Chibuike Amaechi), pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.
“That in view of the urgency attached to this matter, time is of essence, the court has abridged the time for the Respondents to file their response within three days upon service.”
Respondents in the matter are Chairman of the commission, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, nine other members of his body, Governor Rotimi Amaechi, Attorney General of the state, Nigeria Police Force, Inspector General of Police and the state Commissioner of Police.
Justice Nganjiwa, however, adjourned the matter to May 6, 2015 for hearing.
“That the matter is adjourned to 6th day of May, 2015, for hearing of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction,” the judge said.
Amaechi had inaugurated a nine-member commission of inquiry to investigate politically motivated killings in the state.
Other members of the commission of inquiry are Prof. Nlerum Okogbule, Professor Owunari Georgewill, Dr. Richard Ofuru, Mrs. Asivosuo Oriye, Dr. Joy Ejiofor, Mrs. Ayo Obe and Rev. Father Michael Akiri as members.
Lateef Fagbemi and Wole Olanipekun are two Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) who have the reputation of always winning cases they handle at the election tribunals. They are brilliant, no doubt. But, I am told the secret of their success also lies in the fact that they look at cases critically before accepting. Once there is no merit in a case, they avoid it.
Fagbemi is leading the All Progressives Congress (APC) team of lawyers to seek the voiding of the declaration of Chief Nyesom Wike as Rivers Governor-elect. Olanipekun is leading the APC team in Akwa Ibom to challenge Udom Emmanuel’s ‘election’.
The elections in these two states remain the most controversial. Observers, local and international, have described the polls as sham. Violence, rigging and outright writing of results are some of the issues observers have raised about the polls in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has challenged the observers, insisting the elections were free, fair and credible. The tribunals are where to defend the credibility of the polls.
Will Fagbemi and Olanipekun repeat their previous magic? These two cases will be interesting to follow.
Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has inaugurated a nine-man commission of inquiry to investigate politically motivated killings in the state. The Prof. Chidi Odinkalu-led panel has an uphill task ahead of it, writes PRECIOUS DIKEWOHA
When the public hearing of the nine-man panel looking into politically-motivated killings in Rivers State begins, there will be tears. Men will break down as if they are kids. Tears will cascade down the cheeks of wives why recalling the killing of their husbands. Mothers will not be able to hold back tears narrating ordeals they wished never happened.
The public hearing slated for the Obi Wali Centre in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, will help put faces to statistics that have been bandied around since in the last few months about victims of politically-motivated killings in the state.
The commission of inquiry is headed by the Chairman, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Chidi Odinkalu. Sir Samuel Egbe is the Secretary.
Other members of the panel are Prof Nlerum Okogbule, Prof. Owunari Georgewill, Dr. Richard Ofuru, Mrs. Asivosuo Oriye, Dr. Joy Ejiofor, Mrs. Ayo Obe and Rev. Father Michael Akiri.
Governor Rotimi Amaechi, during a stakeholders’ meeting, promised to ensure that those involved in politically-motivated killings would not go unpunished.
Speaking last Thursday during the inauguration of the panel at Government House in Port Harcourt, Amaechi added that the fact-finding exercise would last for 30 days.
The governor gave the terms of the commission to include: why the victims were killed, who killed them and under what circumstances. He added that the commission was expected to make recommendations that would help government forestall future occurrences.
•The lateChristopher Adube
He said: “When I visited Obirikom in the Ogba/Egbeme/Ndoni Local Government Area, in the house hold of one late Chief Christopher Adube, nine persons were killed by assassins.
“Those killed were his three children, his younger brother, two gatemen, and two other persons while two of the late Chief Adube’s children are still receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital.
“There was a day I was arguing with the Commissioner of Police in Rivers State now posted to Enugu and I said, ‘commissioner, I am told 11 persons have been killed’, he said, ‘no, only seven persons’.
“Again, in the same Omoku, whether it is seven or 11 persons, these are human lives. At Okrika, when APC went on campaign, where the governorship candidate of APC was seated, he would have been hit by a bullet, but, God saved him; he had left that place earlier. That was the first day APC went for campaign in Okirika, and the police were present.
“I was driving to my village on March 28 for the presidential election, I saw a corpse at the median of the road, I called the Commissioner of Police, ‘Mr. Karma, I have seen a corpse here, please, look for a way to take away the corpse and find out who did this’, but, he did not.
“Whether the corpse is still there or not, I have no idea. When I got to the village called Omuanwa on that election day, young boys were shooting sporadically at innocent people and when they saw us, they ran into the bush. Then I came down and met somebody they have shot that was severely injured. We put him in a vehicle and rushed him to the hospital.”
The governor said those behind the killings were allowed to carry out the mayhem because of the existence of impunity in the state. He urged the commission to recommend appropriate punishment for the offenders.
Amaechi said: “The reasons why the killings happen was because of impunity in the state. Total impunity. I believe as a governor, if you don’t punish those who break the law, then human beings will no longer be protected.
“People were not allowed to carry out their civic obligation and responsibilities just because they (politicians) were desperate to take over power. There will be threats, but your duty as a commission is to overcome these threats.
“First, you must be under the custody of the state and we will inform the Commissioner of Police to provide adequate security for them (members of the commission) to discharge their duties uninterrupted.”
Of all the killings, those of the Adube have caught the public’s attention. Their killers showed no mercy. In one fell swoop, nine persons, including a father, his two sons and daughter were killed. The Adube family members are still in tears and are seeking justice.
•The late Joy Adube
Spokesman of the family Henry Adube gave the names of those killed as: former Caretaker Committee Chairman of Ogba/Egbema/ Ndoni Local government, the late Hon. Christopher Adube, his two sons Lucky and John Adube , his daughter Joy, a family friend, Mr. Iyk Ogarabe and the family driver, Mr. Samuel Chukwunonye.
Henry, who was weeping profusely while speaking to The Nation, urged the National Hunan Right Commission (NHRC), the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) and other human rights groups to investigate the death of his brother’s family.
He said politically-motivated killings most stop.
He added that those who killed his brother and family came to wipe out his family, saying that the gunmen did not show any mercy in their operation.
“That fateful evening they stormed the compound and forced their way in and started shooting. If you look at what happened, you will see that the armed men were desperate to end my brother’s family. After killing my brother, they went and shot Joy and John, including a family friend and driver.
•The late Lucky Adube
“Many people had been killed during the campaign/ rally in the area and the worst thing is that nobody has been arrested or prosecuted. I am begging Nigerians, National Human Rights Commission, Civil Liberty Organisation and other human right groups to investigate this gruesome murder.”
The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogba/Egbema/ Ndoni Local Government Area, Hon Ejechi Felix, said the remains of the victims would not be buried until police finish their investigation.
The Rivers Police Command last Saturday said it had commenced manhunt for gunmen who killed nine persons and burnt the house of a politician in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area.
The Public Relations Officer of the command, Mr Ahmed Muhammad, said the gunmen attacked Obrikom and Obor communities killing nine persons and injuring two others.
He said they also burnt the house of Mr Vincent Ogbagu, the All Progressives Congress House of Assembly candidate for the Local Government Area.
“They also set ablaze the house of Vincent Ogbagu, an APC House of Assembly candidate,” he said.
Muhammad said the police had commenced investigation into the incident with a view to bring its perpetrators to book.
“We appeal to the public to assist in making available, credible information in this respect,” he said.
Instructively, the killings have not stopped even after the polls. The governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, earlier in the week raised the alarm over what he described as the continued killing of members of the party.
Peterside, speaking through the Director of Communications of his campaign organisation, Mrs. Ibim Seminitari, demanded an immediate end to the killings and warned about the consequences of the killings if not stopped.
Peterside called on the security agencies to be proactive to stopping the perpetrators of such killing from carrying out their evil activities.
He asked: “If they killed APC members on election days, why have they continued to kill after the polls?”
Peterside, who cited new cases of killing to include that of Ahoada East, Okrika and other local government areas in the state where APC members have either been killed or abducted, said the killings raise concerns over the calibre of men and women INEC had declared winners of the elections in the estate.
“The unabated killings of APC members in Rivers State raise concerns of the mental status of the men and women the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declared winners of the recent elections in the state. We are afraid that killers and sundry criminals have been imposed on the state by INEC, and, if we are right, then, worse days lay ahead for our people,” he said.
It is expected that details of these killings will be revealed at the public hearing and many will sure be watching to see if the killers will be identified and punished.
The All Progressives Congress’ (APC’s) Greater Together Campaign Organisation (GTCO) in Rivers State has raised the alarm on the continued killing of members of the party in the state.
It demanded an immediate end to the act.
GTCO, the campaign outfit of Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside, yesterday in Port Harcourt, through its Director of Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, expressed shock over the post-election killings.
The organisation said: “If they killed APC members on election days, why have they continued to kill after the polls? We wonder why the persons behind the killings want to turn Rivers State into a killing field.”
Citing cases in Ahoada East, Okrika and other local government areas of the state, where APC members had either been killed or abducted, the GTCO noted that the killings had been raising concerns over the calibre of men and women the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared winners of the elections in the state.
It said: “The unabated killings of APC members in Rivers State raises concerns on the mental status of the men and women INEC declared winners of the recent elections in the state. We are afraid that killers and sundry criminals have been imposed on the state by INEC, and if we are right, then worse days lay ahead for our people.”
The GTCO noted that in Ahoada East Local Government Area, several killings have been recorded after the April 11 elections, in which it alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders unleashed armed militias, miscreants and uniformed rascals on voters.
The campaign organisation said: “Since the discredited governorship and House of Assembly elections in Rivers State, killers have swarmed on Ahoada East, hitting down their targets. Recently, Messrs. Chigba Apollos and Chiezule German, both members of APC in the area, were shot dead in Ibarikpo by unknown gunmen. Ibarikpo is in Ahoada East, Ward 13.
“Besides the killings, kidnappers are also on the prowl in Ahoada East Local Government Area, targeting only APC members on a daily basis. It appears APC in Ahoada is marked for extinction.
“The abduction of Chief Cassidy Ikegbidi, Chairman of Ahoada East Caretaker Committee, is one of the latest tragedies that have befallen APC. Apart from Ikegbidi, who was kidnapped last Friday (April 18), Mr. Suleiman Atago from Ideoha in Ward 5, and Chidi Oji from Ihuowo Ward 10 were also abducted by heavily-armed gunmen, reportedly dressed in military uniform.
“On March 24, ahead of the presidential and National Assembly elections, Miebaka Opuogulaya from Abam-Ama (Abam community) in Okrika was not only killed, but his body was taken away by his killers.
“In a similar bizarre manner, on April 15, Mr. Saturday Wakama was killed and his corpse carried away. Wakama, a popular APC member in Okrika, was a member of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) and had championed campaigns for a riverine governor in Rivers State.
“We wonder why security agencies have not arrested any killer or kidnapper, to face justice. This is an indictment on the agencies of state saddled with the responsibility of tackling law breakers. An arrest and prosecution will send strong warning to these outlaws and possibly stem the tide of growing murder of APC members in Rivers State. A stitch in time saves nine.”
The Rivers Police Command said on Sunday that its officers have arrested 104 persons for election-related offences in the state.
The Public Relations Officer of the Command, Mr Ahmad Muhammad, a DSP, said in a statement in Port Harcourt that the police had begun investigating 41 different cases involving the suspects.
“The Command is discreetly investigating 41 different cases involving 104 suspects arrested on election days from different parts of the state,’’ he said.
Muhammad said the suspects were arrested for alleged offences against the Electoral Act 2010 or other extant laws of the country.
“Items recovered from the suspects included multiple Permanent Voter Cards (PVC), offensive weapons and electoral materials, including ballot papers and boxes,’’ he said.
He added that the suspects would be charged to court on completion of investigations.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said areas where last Saturday’s House of Assembly elections were inconclusive in Rivers State will hold a rerun tomorrow.
The Governorship and the House of Assembly elections were cancelled in Emohua Local Government Area.
INEC said elections would hold in all the wards in the area.
Elections are also expected to hold in Ahoada East – wards 1, 2, 3, 4, 11, 12 and 13; Opobo/Nkoro – wards 1, 2, 7, 9 and 11; Etche I – wards 10, 12, 17, 18 and 19 and Etche II – wards 1, 7, 8, 13 and 15.
A statement yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, by the Resident Electoral Commission (REC), urged voters in the affected areas to come out en masse to elect their leaders.
But an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain and the lawmaker representing Emohua in the House of Assembly, Chidi Lloyd, accused the INEC of attempting to scuttle the rescheduled poll in the local government.
The lawmaker said APC was not officially informed of the rescheduled date for the election, adding that only the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was duly informed.
He said his party would not be part of the election, since its process had been taken over by PDP and its cohorts.
Lloyd said: “My party and supporters may boycott the rescheduled election on Saturday. PDP members have been fixed as ad hoc workers for the election. The plan is to hijack the process. This is one of the fraudulent mechanisms that led to the cancellation of election in the area.”
The Rivers State Election Petition Tribunal will sit in Abuja following the approval of its relocation from Port Harcourt, the state capital, by President of the Court of Appeal Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa.
The relocation is due to security reasons.
A statement yesterday in Abuja by Mrs Deborah Musa, the Secretary of the Tribunal, said Justice Ishaq Bello, the acting Chief Judge of the FCT High Court, approved the FCT High Court, Apo, as the secretariat and trial court for the tribunal.
There has been violence in Rivers State before, during and after the elections. Many people have been killed.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has alleged that there were no presidential and National Assembly polls and that the governorship and House of Assembly elections were marred by irregularities orchestrated by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) whose governorship candidate Nyesom Wike was declared winner. Wike’s election and those of federal and state lawmakers are to be challenged by the APC.
In Makurdi, the National and State Election Tribunal has begun sitting. In the case challenging the election of Senate President David Mark, who was declared winner of the Benue South Senatorial District for a fifth term, the Tribunal has granted the leave for his opponent Comrade Daniel Onjeh to inspect and obtain the materials used during the March 28 polls.
Onjeh sought the leave of the Tribunal through his counsel, Robertson Abel, for an order of the Tribunal permitting his counsel to inspect materials. Mark contested on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP). Onjeh ran as an All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate.
Tribunal Chairman Justice M .A. Dipeolu gave the order after listening to the argument of the APC candidate.
Justice Dipeolu, who granted the leave to move the motion also ordered among other things, that the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) should make all the electoral forms and other materials used for the Benue South Senatorial District available.
Independent observers, under the aegis of the Coalition of INEC Accredited Election Observer Groups, have demanded the arrest and prosecution of the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Rivers State, Dame Gesila Khan, over the fraudulent general elections.
They also insisted the April 11 governorship and House of Assembly elections in Rivers state did not hold about ten local government areas.
The observers, led by Kalu Victor, Wednesday at a news conference in Port Harcourt, accused Khan, who hails from Bayelsa State as President Goodluck Jonathan, of truncating the efforts of the President to give Nigerians credible and peaceful elections.
They maintained that elections did not hold in Asari-Toru, Akuku-Toru, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Abua/Odual, Khana, Ahoada-East, Ahoada-West, Bonny and Etche LGAs of Rivers state.
The observers said: “There was encouraging voters’ turnout for the elections across that state. There was no election when our teams visited at various times, Asari-Toru, Akuku-Toru, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Abua/Odual, and Khana LGAs. We could not sight a polling unit where elections took place in the areas.
“Voters were peacefully accredited in Ahoada-West, Ahoada-East, Bonny and Etche LGAs, but voting could not hold, as armed thugs in their good number were freely patrolling the areas, intimidating voters and carting away ballot boxes.
“The election was marred by snatching and stuffing of ballot papers and ballot boxes respectively, and intimidation of voters by thugs, especially in Obio/Akpor and Omuma LGAs.”
The independent observers also stated that the behaviour and conduct of the REC of INEC in Rivers state during the elections defined her as being partisan, which they described as a violation of her oath of office and the constitution of Nigeria, regarding her position.
Khan, however, insisted that the March 28 and April 11 elections in Rivers state were free, fair, credible and peaceful.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ikwerre Local Government and Rivers Lawyers for Change have rejected the result of last Saturday’s governorship election, which gave victory to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Chief Nyesom Wike.
At a press briefing yesterday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, the Ikwerre APC leaders described last Saturday’s election as a coup against democracy and the people’s will.
They said it was needless calling for the cancellation of the election when no poll took place, adding that last Saturday it was arrangement of results, which could not be described as election.
Ikwerre Local Government is the council of Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.
The House of Assembly candidate and member representing Ikwerre, Azubike Chikere Wanjoku said his people have rejected the result that produced Wike.
Wanjoku said, as in other councils, there was no election in Ikwerre but a coup against the people, where voters were intimidated and results manipulated.
He accused the INEC of recruiting PDP members as poll clerks; ward and council Returning officers.
He noted that the election was between Rivers REC, Dame Gesila Khan, the police and armed thugs, who he said denied the people the right to elect their leaders.
“Everybody that participated in that election as INEC officials, Returning officers are members of PDP. They took over the election structure and nobody could listen to us. INEC became PDP, so who do we complain to? Ward Collation officers disappeared from the ward and resurfaced later with results.
“Now, the question is how and where the Collation officers got their results, because, as far as we are concerned, none of the council Collation officer went to the ward to collate results. Yet they manufactured their results and sent to the state. Ikwerre people cannot accept such results.”
The state Chairman, Lawyers for Change, Mr. Ifeanyichukwu Dike, said they have enough evidence to present before the court.
Dike, who showed reporters the photograph of Dr. Prince Nmorn , a PDP card-carrying member who was made a Returning officer of Ikwerre, said there were evidence that most of the Retuning officers were PDP members.
“We are calling on our party supporters to calm down as we are going to address the issue within the confines of the law. We have received evidence of these irregularities, we are presently finetuning arraignment to retrieve our mandate from the criminals.”
About 60 civil society organisations (CSOs), under the aegis of Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (NCSSR), have queried the credibility of the outcome of Saturday’s elections in Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Abia states.
NCSSR, whose member organisations had monitors throughout the country, said from reports submitted by members, it was concerned “about the overall conduct of the elections” in the three states because there are grounds to question the credibility of the results.
It urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to take steps to authenticate the final collated results from the three states against the polling unit results and make a reasoned judgment about them.
The Situation Room’s Coordinator, Clement Nwankwo, while giving the group’s assessment of the elections, told reporters in Abuja yesterday that 268 cases of electoral misconducts were recorded nationwide during Saturday’s elections, leading to 14 deaths.
He listed the cases of deaths as six in Rivers, three in Akwa Ibom, two in Delta and two in Katsina, among others.
Sokoto State recorded the highest cases of “disorderly conducts at polling units,” with 18 cases, followed by Katsina with 17 and Akwa-Ibom 10.
It recorded 112 cases of election-related violence in Akwa Ibom (18), Katsina (17), Sokoto (17), Rivers (16), Abia (nine), Delta (nine), Kano (seven), Anambra (seven), Imo (six) and Benue (six).
The group said it recorded 60 cases of polling logistic problems in Akwa Ibom (14), Sokoto (12), Rivers (11), Delta (nine), Katsina (eight) and Adamawa (six).
Thirty-seven cases of “process violations” in Sokoto (with 15 reported cases), Adamawa (six), Delta (seven) and Katsina (nine) were also recorded.
The group noted that in Rivers, “historically deep-rooted political animosities played out in a brazen, violent and naked manner to subvert the electoral process in many local governments.
“In Akwa Ibom, there were also serious questions about the veracity of the results because of reports of active and direct partisan interference with elections.
“There are also concerns about Abia State, which recorded multiple cases of electoral misconduct,” it said.
The group, while contending that INEC should be concerned about the possible negative public perceptions of the results in Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Abia, urged it to do all it can to protect the integrity of elections in the states as a way of strengthening the trust of the electorate in the voting process.
It expressed concern about what it termed the weak oversight powers of INEC’s national headquarters over the resident electoral commissioners and state INEC offices in the management and conduct of elections.
“This makes it easy for compromised RECs and other state-level INEC officers to undermine the credibility of the election, sometimes with reckless impunity,” it said.
