The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has fiercely rejected President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, calling it politically motivated and unjustified.
Speaking on Tuesday, IYC President Dr. Alaye Theophilus dismissed the move as a desperate ploy to exert control over the state, blaming FCT Minister Nyesom Wike for engineering the crisis.
“This crisis was deliberately created, and now they want to use it as an excuse to impose emergency rule. We will never accept this,” Theophilus declared, warning that the Ijaw people would resist any attempt to undermine democracy in Rivers.
He also alleged that the recent attack on the Trans-Niger oil pipeline was staged to justify the emergency rule, adding, “Governor Fubara has been calling for peace, but Wike and his allies have remained confrontational.”
Meanwhile, the Ijaw National Congress (INC) President, Professor Benjamin Okaba, slammed the emergency declaration as unconstitutional, arguing that it failed to meet the conditions outlined in Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution.
He also questioned Wike’s recent visit to Abalama with armed soldiers, calling it a clear act of provocation.
“The Ijaw nation will not sit back and watch democracy trampled upon,” Okaba warned, adding that the people will carefully evaluate their position in Nigeria’s political landscape.
