Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has promised to implement the recommendations of the judicial commission of inquiry report on the arson, killings and destruction of property at local government headquarters in the state.
He gave the assurance when the seven-member commission, led by Justice Roseline Minakiri, submitted four volumes of reports of their investigation and recommendations to him at the Government House in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
On October 7, 2024, following the conduct of the October 5 local government election in the state, hoodlums attacked three local government headquarters and burned properties at the councils.
The development arose after the governor insisted the local government election must be held, against the stand of the opposition political parties and loyalists of the former governor, Nyesom Wike.
There were also reports of killings and injuries before the police restored order at the council headquarters.
The governor set up the commission of inquiry to investigate the killings and arson at the council headquarters, to end the development in the state.
Speaking at the submission of the report on Tuesday, Fubara said his administration would neither tolerate nor allow such level of violence in the state anymore.
He said, “We are not going to be part of any system that would encourage any destruction in this state. And for that reason, we had to inaugurate this commission, so that it should look into the remote and immediate causes of this problem.
“With the help of God and the support of everyone, we will make sure that we implement the recommendations.”
Fubara added, “We are going to take it to the next stage. The report will be presented to the executive council, and there we will surely come out with the white paper. I can assure you that we are going to follow it to the end.
“As a government, we will act promptly and decisively on the recommendations, release a white paper and ensure that those responsible for the heinous acts face the full weight of the law.
“Rivers State deserves better and we will not tolerate actions that threaten our collective progress.
“Nobody is above the law, including me. So, provided what we are doing is within the confines of the law, we will do it with the help of everyone.”
Fubara recalled how, before 2014, a group of persons ran wild and recklessly in the state, burning down court buildings.
He noted that it was such persons who recently surfaced with their destructive tendencies, and extended the violence to local government councils, killing people and destroying government property.
The governor wondered why somebody would spend so much money to build a structure intended to last as a legacy of the administration but would eventually be part of its destruction in the name of politics.
He clarified that he had never been part of such destructive politics that set the state backwards and frustrate progressive development strides.
“I make bold to say it, I have never been and will never be a party to anything that will bring shame, disgrace, destruction to our dear state.
“It is our state. If it is well with us, it will be well with everybody. As a matter of fact, why should I encourage destruction, when I know that when you finish spoiling things, you still need money to rebuild them?
“I am an accountant, I know the importance of how we can manage money. Rather than spoil, you should use that money to do a new thing for the state,” he said.
He added, “So, I am going to ensure that we put a stop to that level of violence or such unreasonable violence. I call it unreasonable violence because it doesn’t mean anything in politics.
“Politics is a business of interest. There is no permanent friend, no permanent enemy. Some persons who were not even in our support, today, are here following us because their interest is the most important thing.
“Likewise tomorrow, if the interest changes, they will also go their different ways. So, why burn down the house?”
The governor thanked members of the commission for accomplishing their task with determination in the face of physical and legal threats.
Earlier, Justice Minakiri said the committee put its findings into four volumes, including the recommendations.
“We have here four volumes of the report. We have the memoranda, which is what we got after we made our publications.
“We also have the exhibits that came with the memoranda. We have the proceedings and the records. At the end of the day, we came up with the main report,” she said.
Justice Minakiri advised that the recommendations of the report be studied and implemented to deter people from such callous acts and ensure peace in the state.
