Some residents of Oyigbo in Rivers State have expressed concern over the continued military action at the popular Express Junction, almost two weeks after the September 12 fracas in the area that was attributed to the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

According to a statement issued on Friday by Concerned Non-Indigenes in Rivers State (CONIRIV), signed by the Coordinator, Odimegwu Onwumere, “Even before the security agents came to the place, the chaos that erupted had settled down and the residents were out for their normal businesses. However, the rather prolonged stay of the security agents at the Express Junction makes it look like there is a war going on in the area, which should not be so.

“If you are riding a bike, you are forced to roll it by the hand to pass the Express Junction. Pedestrians are not left out of the security nuisance: They are forced to hands up while crossing the Express Junction.

“And the question is – how long are we going to see this in Oyigbo? – a place that has been as peaceful as the cemetery from time immemorial. The worrisome aspect of it all is that the security agents are converting the Express Junction to what we are yet to understand. They often fire gun shots into the air in an embarrassing manner just as they do not send good signal to Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.

“If there was cult rivalry in Oyigbo, that would have been a different thing. The idea would have been that the security agents must fish out those responsible before they retreat to where they were deployed from. But in this case, Oyigbo is peaceful before and after the September 12 bottleneck.”

Onwumere called on the office of Governor Wike to call the security agents to order, to allow residents and passersby to walk freely without any form of molestation by the security agents, stressing that “It does not add up that Oyigbo residents should be raising their hands up before they walk the Express Junction. In a sane clime, this security method does not represent the wish of democrats in a democracy.”

He also declared that the practice by the security agents amounts to pure intimidation given that in a democracy, the people shouldn't be afraid of their government rather, government should be afraid of their people.

“We should not allow anti-intellectualism and anti-democracy become a recurring decimal in the political sphere in this country. Let the Governor read Mahatma Gandhi, ‘What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or in the holy name of liberty or democracy?’

“Notwithstanding, if the security agents must stay, let the residents and passersby be allowed to walk freely without raising their hands up and the motorcyclists, not rolling their motorcycles by hand before they cross the Express Junction.

“The continued mandating of people to raise their hands up and motorcyclists to roll their machines by hand, do not achieve positive gains to the government of Governor Nyesom Wike, but a bad name.”

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