NewsRescue
By Akanimo Sampson
RIVERS State wing of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP,) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC),the governing political party of President Muhammadu Buhari, of fueling violence in the oil and gas state for an unwholesome intent.
APC and PDP have been trading blames on the spate of killings,kidnappings and other violent crimes that have been raiding the state.
The APC has been blaming the worrisome state of insecurity in Rivers to the alleged ineptitude of Governor Nyesom Wike of the PDP. The party tried to upturn Wike’s electoral victory through the legalmeans without success.
The political antagonism between the rival parties took a turn for the worse, with bloodletting in Ogoni, Kalabari, and the Orashi flanks.
The arrest of the son of the state Deputy Chairman of the APC, Mr. Peter Odike, by the Nigerian Army, appears to be providing the security agencies with links to the source of the smoking guns in the troubled oil state.
This development tends to give credence to the PDP repeated claim that APC was fiendishly working for a state of emergency in the state.
For Jerry Needam, a media aide to the PDP state Chair Felix Obuah, ”the arrest of the son of the APC leader has vindicated our position that APC leaders cannot deny their link and sponsorship of violence and criminality in the state”.
Needam who spoke for the PDP said the arrest of Odike’s son did not come to their party as a shocker.
The arrested suspect has allegedly confessed to most of the violent crimes in the state. The PDP has already commended the courage of the suspect in allegedly confirming that he was actively being supported by his father.
While describing such support as ”unpatriotic, shameful, wicked and serious embarrassment to the state”, PDP says some APC chieftains are hell-bent on causing violence and creating insecure atmosphere in the state.
The party is calling on the military authorities not to sweep the arrest of Odike’s son under the carpet. The party is also appealing to other security agencies to redouble their efforts in tackling violence and criminality in the state.
File photo