The Orashi Peoples Consultative Assembly OPCA has joined in
the widespread condemnation of the granting of amnesty to a group of cultists and
criminal elements most of whom are identified to come from Awara and other
communities in Ohaji and Egbema local government area of Imo state bordering ONELGA and Ikwerre local government
areas of Rivers State and is acclaimed to be a major transit route and camp of
the late Don Wanny who was the master mind of the New Year Day massacre.
According to the OPCA in a statement signed by its National
President Barr. Kingsley Frank and Director of Media Hope Ogaranya, most of the cultists who were earlier captured
under the Rivers state amnesty programme with the late Don Wanny are the same
persons who presented themselves for amnesty by Governor Rochas Okorocha after
having been declared wanted by the Rivers State government in connection to the
New Year Day massacre in Omoku. They are also known to be members of the late Don
Wanny’s brigade who reneged on the amnesty granted by the Rivers state government
by committing heinous crimes against humanity.
The group which frowned at the so called amnesty by the Imo State
Government a neighbour state and which ought to be conscious of the carnage and the collateral
damage that the activities of these elements brought to the people of Rivers State amounts to a gross abuse of power
by the Imo state governor and is a ploy to undermine the efforts of the Rivers
state government to fight cultism in the State ‘’why should criminals be
declared wanted in Rivers state but are granted VIP status in the neighbouring
state all in a bid to score political points. This leaves much questioned to be
answered.
The statement while condemning the amnesty said the granting
of amnesty to the cultists shows how much the All Progressives Congress APC is
irresponsive, irresponsible and insensitive to the plight of the people who
were massacred in Omoku on New Year Day.
The OPCA while calling on the people of the region to be
vigilant because of the antics of desperate politicians who are on mission to capture
the region at all costs, questioned the logic behind ex-Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s
promise to Omoku people to first vote for the All Progressives Congress APC in
order to address the issue of wanton killings in the region. ‘’It is
regrettable that the former governor and his party are playing politics with
insecurity in the state so as to continually create a state of tension which
ultimately will justify their dubious call for a state of emergency to be declared’’
‘’that the former governor has failed to condemn the very sinister
decision to grant amnesty to cultists who were involved in a massacre that was widely
reported and condemned word wide is to say the least, disheartening and
shameful. What is the APC trying to do if not to perpetually promote violence
in the state while accusing the Rivers state government and the Peoples
Democratic Party PDP of being behind the insecurity in the state. This action has
clearly shown that the killings that took place in the region and other parts
of the state were ignited to serve the whims and caprices of a fiendish group
of politicians that survive on bloodletting while passing the blame to others.
We strongly believe that there is a sinister intention behind the amnesty which
is to use these boys to cause trouble in the state during the electioneering period’’
The Orashi Peoples Consultative Assembly OPCA called on all well-meaning
people to join hands with the Rivers State Governor to fight the scourge and
menace of cultism as evident in the current Rivers state anti-cultism (amendment) and Neighborhood Watch Bills which just passed through Public Hearing at the Rivers State House of
Assembly that imposes death penalty for cultism. It hailed the proactive measures of the state
government aimed at addressing the issue of cultism in the state because
cultism is the root of other aggravated crimes.
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