Rivers cult war : MOSIEND fingers Akpabio, urged Wike to end the senseless killing
The leadership of the Movement for the Survival of Izon Ethnic Nationality in Niger Delta (MOSIEND), has accused the Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, for been responsible for the recent cult clashes between rivals groups in Port Harcourt and other parts of Rivers State.
The group also urged the Rivers State governor, Barr. Nyesom Wike, to urgently respond in order to curtail the senseless killings in his territory.
In a statement, signed and sent to Tarakiri Voice, through the National Director of Mobilization, MOSIEND,
Alhaji Abubakar Amaigo Brown, and the Chief Security Officer to MOSIEND President, Comrade George Okitikpi, drew the attention of Governor Wike, to the series of violet clashes by youths in the state.
The group, said “It is pertinent to note that these young men killing themselves today across the state were all part of the 22,430 repentant cultists the State Governor, Nyesom Wike had disarmed and publicly granted Amnesty in 2016. Unfortunately, the Governor failed to implement critical areas of the disarmament initiative such as demobilization, reorientation as well as the reintegration aspects of the Programme”
Disarming repentant militants and cultists is not where the process of DDR ends. It takes sincerity of purpose and political will to drive the exercise to a logical conclusion for overall success.
Reorientation, dialogue and continuous engagements are integral parts of demobilization. We sincerely believe that if the repentant cultists were giving the requisite nonviolence training and orientation, they would have been transformed in thoughts and deeds, thereby reducing the fatalities recorded as a result of unnecessary cult wars which keep claiming the lives of young men in the State.
We call on Government at all levels to act responsibly and stop taking the citizens for granted. The poverty situation in the Niger Delta can best be described as suffocating with little or nothing being done by Government to empower the people and give them a new lease of life.
We warn that if nothing urgent is done to alleviate the sufferings of the people, we might have a semblance of revolution which may provoke the young people to go after the political elites who have kept them in this debilitating condition that is gradually stretching beyond the limits of human endurance.
MOSIEND, while condemning in the cult war in the state, described it as unfortunate, senseless, inhuman, demonic and without regard for the sanctity of life.
The statement further noted “Field reports reaching us from a combined team of the security, mobilization and operations units in the Eastern Zone of MOSIEND, reveals that the inability of the Honourable Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio to use wisdom and diplomacy in handling the various cult groups that graced the commissioning of the NDDC Headquarters in Port Harcourt, was the immediate cause of the recent cult skirmish”
Reports from our reliable and intelligent team have it that a heated argument ensued amongst the cult groups, a situation that later snowballed into a free-for- all fight, forcing security operatives to disperse the youths who had constituted a security threat.
We view what is currently going on in the State with regards to the reckless killings by the warring cult groups as a fallout of radicalization and brainwashing of our young people, who now erroneously see evil tendencies such as intimidations, harassment, molestations, betrayal, unforgivingness and total disregard for human lives and biblical principles as acceptable societal norms and values.
We are therefore calling on our brothers to forgive one another and sheath their sword believing that they have much more to positively contribute to their communities and State as opposed to cultism and unhealthy battle for supremacy for selfish economic benefits.
We urge them to shun deviant behaviors and begin to appreciate the gift of life offered them gracefully by the Almighty God. It is not too late to make that U-turn which might see hitherto street boys become valuable assets who would join in the vanguard of Patriots pushing for the socioeconomic advancement of the Niger Delta region.
