Why I outlawed IPOB in Rivers — Wike

RIVERS State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has opened up on why he signed the executive order that outlawed the Indigenous People of Biafra in the state.

The governor said IPOB killed six soldiers and four policemen during the #EndSARS protests.

Wike cleared the air yesterday when the national leadership of the Nigerian Guild of Editors paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

The governor said the protest was peaceful in the state until the group took the law into their own hands, saying, “I don’t support criminality. IPOB killed six army officers, four policemen, burnt police stations and court buildings.”

“This is Rivers State. Go to Oyigbo and see the level of destruction. Now the state government will be rebuilding those facilities. Those who don’t understand our actions are saying we are fighting the Igbo. How will they allow criminals to speak for them when there are intelligent Igbo people to speak for them?

“If they (IPOB) are aggrieved, instead of channelling it to the right quarters, they go and kill innocent people and destroy public places (sic),” he stated.

Wike also said it was impossible to fight Boko Haram without intelligence, suggesting the lack of intelligence had made it impossible to trace the leaders of the #EndSARS protest.

He said, “Look at what has happened. There were #EndSARS protests across the country. Nobody knows how the youths were able to organise themselves without a leader.

“Up until now, intelligence can’t even know how they did it and who’s behind them. Without good intelligence, how can Nigeria even defeat Boko Haram?”

The governor urged the media to do more in holding leaders accountable.