Ahead of 2019 Governorship election in Rivers state All Progressive Congress-APC leadership has established a parallel security outfit similar to that signed into law by Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike known as Neighbourhood Watch Corps headed by a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police Dr. Uche Chukwuma as Acting Director General. Speaking at the 70th birthday ceremony of Lady Beatrice Wobo Nyechie the mother of the only female Lawmaker at Rivers State House of Assembly Engineer Sampson Ngeregbara ex Commissioner For works , 2015 PDP Governorship aspirant and current Chairman of a political Pressure Group Free Rivers Development Initiatives lambasted Rivers state executive Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike for signing into Law the Neighbourhood Watch Corps.
The Andoni Local government Area born Engineer and Senatorial aspirant said “See, when the Governor refused to obey the constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria , that Governor should be ready…The constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria is an equalizer. Of course any how he arms his group we will do. We intend to do this so that Federal Government of Nigeria will intervene. We have taken what I will call judicial steps as we brought it to the Court in Rivers state when it was at Bill stage and we were able to highlight obnoxious Clauses in that Neighbourhood Watch Corps Bill.
We expected the Governor being the arrow head to protect us and our properties to look into our complaints and expunge those clauses and go ahead but he refused. Indeed, he used the word that “I am going to sign it anybody that doesn’t want it should go hell”. That statement comes from a Governor and we left him and we went and complained to all the security agencies in the country. We wrote to the President and we gave him a condition ’”that if they allow the Rivers state House of Assembly to take the Laws into their hands by empowering the Governor to arm youths we also will run a parallel organization and I mean it’” .
Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi
He continued in his statement that “We have already screened three former commissioners of Police and one retired Assistant Inspector General of Police-AIG and one of them has qualified to lead our own team. We are prepared because we don’t want what happened in 2015 to repeat itself and I at my age will not fold my arms and allow somebody deny me my right of existence. That is the point I am making. And When the Governor refused to obey the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that Governor should be challenged.
The constitution is the equalizer…it is what makes I and the governor to have equal rights in a society like ours. But if the Governor decides to flaw the constitution he doesn’t deserve respect from any of us. That is the point we are making which is also constitutional. Of course anyhow he arms his own group we arm our own too. Because we chose to do this so that Federal Government should intervene and put a stop to it. It is for your own safety and my own safety.
For instance, the clause permits the Governor to give a specific and General order and this call for today it is dangerous. If the law empowers the governor to allow his Orderlies and security to arrest people it is dangerous. We warn the court that if anyone infringes on my right I don’t have power to go to Court that I have to apply to them to give them details of this by then I must have died and be buried but God forbid. We want this thing to stop and that is the point we are making. And the man who wants to arm the youths of Rivers state has already impoverished the youths who are beheading and kidnapping people and me who is saying don’t violate the constitution, who loves the state?”
This is the situation and scenario painted by elder statesman Engineer Sampson Ngeregbara who wants to replace Senator Magnus Ngei Abe for Rivers South East senatorial District in the coming 2019 General elections.