By Joseph Ebi Kanjo
Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has condemned in strong terms the emergency rule declared by President Bola Tinubu in Rivers State, describing it as “an assault on democracy.”
The civil society organization added that the declaration is not just “an assault on democracy,” but “also signifies a grave
rupturing of democratic principles, the rule of law, and the expressed
will of the people.”
The Executive Director, HOMEF, Dr Nnimmo Bassey, in a statement made available to INFO DAILY by Kome Odhomor, Media/Communication Lead of the organization, noted that apart from the fact that the president’s statement was “disturbing, one-sided, and unconvincing,” his action “portends new levels of socioecological challenges not only to Rivers State but to the entire Niger Delta.”
Bassey, who acknowledged the fact that the actions that led to the emergency rule in Rivers have been national embarrassment, however, noted that declaring a State of Emergency
worsens the scenario.
READ ALSO: NLC, TUC Reject Rivers State Emergency, Call It Assault On Democracy
He added: “A return of military rule in any part of the Niger Delta is an egregious assault on the psyche of traumatised people. Any action that awakes the nightmarish memories of 1990 must be condemned in
the strongest terms.”
He continued: “We will not forget that the region was, and has remained, militarised at the pleasure of multinational oil companies. Communities were
levelled, and blood flowed across the land and creeks.
“In recent months, egoistic barriers have been raised to block dialogue and civility, and militarisation is now hoisted as a panacea to the rotten situation.
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“Will military rule allow the good people of Rivers State to breathe? Is it a ploy to further militarise the region, deepen impunity, and reopen closed wells for barrels of oil under the protection of barrels of guns? There are many questions to ask and many rivers to cross in Rivers State.”
Bassey also described as “unacceptable, the premise that the State of Emergency became necessary because oil pipelines were being threatened,” arguing that governors are not the Commander in Chief of the armed forces.
The ED further argued: “Governors
of the states are not the Commander in Chief of the armed forces.
Moreover, decrepit oil facilities have been blowing up on their own
accord, without third party interferences, suggesting that incidents in the oil fields are acts of sabotage without due investigation is
specious.”
READ ALSO: JUST IN: Tinubu Declares State Of Emergency In Rivers
He added: “HOMEF objects to any attempts, through means such as militarisation, to
expand oil drilling operations in the Niger Delta using military force or cover. Such attempts will be ill-advised considering the ecological
harms in the region that have reduced lives to a mere whisper.”
The Executive Director, therefore, called for the “immediate restoration of democratic governance in Rivers
State and respect for the rule of law,” insisting that “nowhere in the Nigerian Constitution that gives the
President the power to replace democratic institutions with military
rule.”
