By Ahmed Idris, Abuja.
The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has called on Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state to protect the people or resign from office.
Amaechi said this in reaction to the Monday killing of 21 persons by suspected cultists in the state.
Amaechi, who is the immediate past governor of the state, claimed that such an incident never took place under his watch.
He said this in an interview with State House correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday.
“It never happened when I was governor. We (the security chiefs and myself) ensured that we didn’t sleep at night. We stayed awake for the citizens to sleep. I think the governor needs to do much more than that or quit the office,” he said.
The minister accused Wike of encouraging militant groups to unleash mayhem on innocent people in the name of politics.
He said while the issue of the 21 residents was in the public domain, two other persons were killed in Akutoru.
“I think there should be much more than age to qualify to be a governor because it takes much more than age.
“I was governor of Rivers State, I did not play PDP/APC politics. Life is life, it has no symbol. Nobody has APC life or PDP life.
“The first responsibility of a governor which is what the oath of office requires, is that you swear to protect lives and property.
“When you don’t protect life and property, what do you do? It is impeachment. Unfortunately, there is no House of Assembly in Rivers State.
“There is too much noise coming from Rivers State. The governor just wakes up and starts shouting, abusing people. That is all he does. Mr. Project painting roads.
“The first thing you do is human capacity development and keeping human beings and we are losing lives every day,” he said.
The minister said Wike had no reason not to secure the state because he has everything working for him.
“I just don’t know because the things are there for him to work with. He is not like me when during my second term, President Goodluck Jonathan took away Police, SSS. The Army brigade commander couldn’t visit me.
“But in his case, everyone is disposed to him. He can see the Commissioner of Police, director SSS, unlike my period but we fought insecurity.
“But because he needs these people for election purpose that is why they are still there, that is why they are killing, we need much more than that.
“Unfortunately, I swore not to be talking about Rivers anymore but you don’t keep quiet in the face of 21 lives, you can’t just keep quiet.
“I have said it that nobody should criticize his successor. But a successor that watches the lives of people go like that and does not care? God will bless him, ” he added.
