By; Chuks Menford, Port Harcourt
For masterminding the recent unnecessary military invasion of Ogoni land that claimed several lives of Ogoni youths and other residents in the area, the Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) wants Messrs Magnus Abe and Barry Mpigi to apologize to the people of Ogoni and the families of the victims of the incident.
Felix Obuah, State Chairman of the PDP said this through a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Jerry Needam while reacting to protest by Ogoni people over military invasion, occupation and killings of innocent people in the area.
The State PDP boss expressed shock that 20 years (1995) after a similar incident of blood-letting in Ogoni as a result of the military invasion of Ogoni communities that has taken Ogoni people backward and robbed them of their able-bodied youths, and some leading light in the area including Ken Saro-Wiwa, some un-informed Ogoni politicians still dream of bringing the military into the land for their selfish interests.
One agitating question Magnus Abe and his co-travellers have however refused to answer, Obuah noted, is who they intend to represent in the National Assembly after all the Ogoni people have been killed by the military for the singular reason of paving the way for them to win the re-run elections.
The State PDP Chairman warned the desperate political office seekers to stop taking the people for granted, stressing that you can only fool some of the people some of the time and never all the people all the time.
He however, pleaded with the Ogonis not to be disheartened by the thoughtlessness and overzealousness of Magnus Abe, Barry Mpigi and the All Progressives Congress (APC) and remain steadfast in their belief and trust in the people’s party, the PDP which already has the welfare and development of Ogoni as top priority in its programmes for government attention.
“We are also grateful to God for not allowing the plans of these military apologists to escalate due to the timely intervention of Governor Nyesom Wike and other concerned Ogoni sons in government.
“We sincerely pray and hope such avoidable assault on the peaceful Ogoni people will not repeat itself.
“We also join the Governor Wike-led government to sympathize and console all the families of the victims of the military attack including our Igbo brothers that lost their lives and property to the barbaric act.
“May the good Lord accept the souls of the departed ones in perfect peace”, Bro Obuah prayed.
