Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has described the allegation that he ordered the Nigerian Army to kill Igbos in Oyigbo Local Government Area, as a politically motivated falsehood.
Mr Wike maintained that curfew was imposed in Oyigbo to restore calm after members of proscribed Indigenous Peoples Organisations of Biafra (IPOB) killed 6 soldiers, 4 police officers and destroyed all police stations and court buildings there.
His special assistant on media, Kelvin Ebiri on Monday, said the governor gave the explanation on a live television programme in Port Harcourt.
Governor Wike also took to his official Twitter account to explain himself.
He said the narrative that Igbos were being killed by the military is intended to shift attention from the despicable activities of IPOB in Oyigbo, which is a boundary area adjoining Abia State.
Mr Wike said “I know that this is not the first time, IPOB has used Oyigbo as launching ground. The security agencies are aware. IPOB added a new dimension this time. They killed 6 Army Officers and burnt one. They killed four Police Officers. They destroyed all the Police Stations and Court Buildings. What offense did we commit as a state?
I imposed curfew to restore calm. I proscribed IPOB activities anywhere in the state. Don’t forget that the Federal Government had declared them a terrorist group. It is not the entire Igbos that believes in IPOB activities.
“So, it’s not true that I order the military to kill Igbos in Oyigbo. When did I become a friend to the military? So what about the Igbos living elsewhere in the state are they also being killed?”
He further said: “I have no relationship with the Army or the Police, I do not command them. They change Commissioner of Police every time. How will I begin to direct the army that I do not give instruction”?
The governor bemoaned IPOB’s effrontery to rename a local government in the state and hoist its flag in a public school in Komkom Town.
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