Farah Dagogo: Governor Wike replies Ijaw National Congress, Peterside

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, says the 48 hours ultimatum issued by the Ijaw National Congress (INC) over the arrest of Farah Dagogo, who is standing trial on two-count charge of conspiracy to felony and cultism, is a waste of time. Chiding the leadership of INC, Governor Wike said, the right thing to do would have been to come to Government to find out the crux of the issues.

Governor Wike expressed regrets on how criminals who raped women, kidnapped people and did several crimes were allowed to live above the law with the lifestyle that they are Lords who cannot suffer any consequences of their actions.

Wike, stressed that Farah would have lived within the bounds of the amnesty offered him by the Federal Government instead of returning to acts that threatened the peaceful conduct of the screening exercise conducted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for aspirants contesting for the Federal and State House of Assembly.

Wike explained that as Chief Security of the state, he directed the police to arrest Dagogo because he had mobilised cultists to disrupt the screening exercise. According to the governor, Dagogo had made efforts to get the cultists released. He disclosed that some of the cultists who were arrested by the police have been arraigned in court.

“Enough is enough of all these young boys, thinking that they can take everybody for granted and overrun the state, not when I’m a governor of this State. You can do it when another person is a governor, not while I’m here. You (Farah) are not running for National Assembly, you are not running for State Assembly, you went and brought cultists to the party secretariat, to destroy the party secretariat and as a governor, as a leader of the party I should fold my hands and see a criminal, an illiterate overrun my party?” Wike reiterated.

Governor Wike also berated the former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Dr Dakuku Peterside, for threatening the peace and stability of the state over the arrest and arraignment of Dagogo in court.

Recall that a few days ago, the Apex socio,-cultural organisation of the Ijaw nation, the Ijaw National Congress (INC) had issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State to order the release of Hon Farah Dagogo.

Dagogo, a Federal lawmaker representing Bonny/ Degema Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, was arrested on the orders of the Governor and has been remanded in police custody by a magistrate’s court in the state.

But reacting in a statement titled “Arrest of Hon Farah Dagogo: Political Persecution of An Ijaw Son”, the Ijaw National Congress through its President, Professor Benjamin Okaba, on Saturday, called for his immediate release from incarceration within 48 hours in the interest of peace, justice and fairness, insisting that the charges levelled against him (Dagogo) were bailable.

Okaba in the statement reads: The The Ijaw National Congress with appalling disgust state in unequivocal terms the kangaroo arraignment and crude detention of a prominent Rivers Ijaw son and member representing Degema-Bonny Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Farah Dagogo, on the orders of Rivers State Gov. Nyesom Wike. We wish to state in most unequivocal terms that Hon. Farah Dagogo’s continued detention without conviction in a court of law is a clear violation of his fundamental human rights.

“The illegal arrest and detention of Farah Dagogo is an orchestrated design by the Gov. Wike’s administration to persecute the Ijaws who are resolved to come together to challenge the governorship of Rivers State. May we ask, when did the constitutionally guaranteed right to contest an election become a crime? As a former Minister of State in the President Goodluck Ebele led federal administration did the then Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi who had become an APC chieftain threatened or ever arrested and illegally detained Governor Wike even though they were at loggerheads?When did Rivers State become the private empire of Gov. Wike that indigenes need permission from him to decide their political future?

” The INC is particularly miffed at the trumped-up charges against Farah Dagogo that he hired cultists to disrupt the PDP screening exercise which was presided over by his Governor colleague, Sen. Douye Diri of Bayelsa state. Did Gov. Diri ever call him (Gov. Wike) that their lives were under threat on account of the invading cultists? Did the well-fortified security apparatus of Gov. Diri call for security reinforcement because of Gov. Wike’s imaginary marauding cultists? What on earth justifies this premeditated political onslaught against Hon. Farah Dagogo and the Rivers Ijaws? Was the mission essentially to deny him screening so that he would not have a chance to contest the governorship elections against other opponents?

” We wish to remind Governor Wike that Dagogo is as eminently qualified as any other Rivers man or woman to contest for the office of governor on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party. As nobody is denying Wike his right to contest for the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he too should refrain from scuttling the rights of others to aspire to any elective office in the country, including the office of governor of Rivers State.

“By the current shenanigans, Governor Wike has exposed his pangs to underscore his disdain for an Ijaw successor. We now know that this has been his secret agenda. Let the historic contributions of the Ijaw people to the creation of old Rivers State not be lost on Governor Wike.

“Governor Wike should be reminded that the beauty of democracy underscores free contest and not an imposition. He is not an emperor and therefore cannot single-handedly dictate a successor against globally accepted democratic tenets. As a sitting governor, who is exiting office in 2023 after his constitutional two tenures, his politics of succession must be seen to be all-inclusive and not designed overtly or covertly to exclude Ijaw interest in Rivers State.

“We have it on good authority that Dagogo’s health has deteriorated as a result of his ordeal in the hands of Governor Wike. He is said to be suffering from chest and stomach complications. Let Gov. Wike realise that the Ijaw nation is watching. Nothing should happen to Hon. Farah Dagogo.9. The Ijaw National Congress (INC) demands the immediate release of Hon. Farah Dagogo from incarceration.

“As a lawyer, Governor Wike knows that his trumped-up charges against Dagogo are bailable. If Gov. Wike thinks he has legitimate charges to convict him let him allow the due process of the law to take its legitimate course. Release Dagogo in the interest of peace, justice and fairness, to enable him to pursue his political ambition, to which he is constitutionally entitled. *PROF. BENJAMIN OKABA* President of Ijaw National Congress