Another robbery in Port Harcourt... 4 killed

Port Harcourt was woken up again early on Monday morning as another robbery claimed four lives including a police officer.

A vehicle conveying cash was double crossed at Rumuola by two gun totting lads who shot to death all occupants of the car before carting away an undisclosed amount of money.

Eye witness reports suggest it happened around the College of Arts and Science when about 3 hoodlums firing sporadically into the air accosted a grayish Volkswagen Jetta car firing upon its passengers; a police man, a woman and the driver before making off with an undisclosed amount of money.

"There were three of them involved in the operation," the eye witness told wezinareports.blogspot.com under the condition of anonymity.

"Two men, one in front and another behind as well as a woman who remained in the car shooting in the air.

"I was upstairs in my friend's office and saw everything from where I was," he continued.

"As soon as they got there, one of them started shooting in the air for almost a minute and that caused pandemonium with drivers jumping out of their cars running for cover.

"That also meant that traffic was at a standstill and the car they were chasing had nowhere to go. It was at this point the opened fire on the car killing everyone in it.

"One of them now went in the car, grabbed the bag of money, dumped it in their own car and while they moved he stayed behind shooting in the air until the road was cleared before he jumped into the car and they sped off."
The victims of the attack are said to have died instantly while an unlucky bystander who got struck by a bullet had been rushed to the hospital.

People are of the opinion that this group may be the same that kept Port Harcourt under siege for most of October and November.

That group specialized in robbing banks and bullion vans but the Rivers State Police P.R.O, Ben Ugbuegbulam in a press briefing in November said they killed two members of that group in a shoot-out while the woman got away.

Swimming lights up the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium

The 9^th African junior swimming championships started on Thursday at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in the New Port Harcourt City.
 

Countries like South Africa, Botswana, Algeria, Egypt, Namibia, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Kenya, hosts Nigeria amongst others are already in Port Harcourt for the 4 day event

President of the Nigeria Swimming Federation, Olatokunbo Williams told Wezinareports.blogspot.com that the reason for hosting the competition in Rivers State was because they saw the world class facility when they were in Port Harcourt for the national sports festival and they thought they should bring the Africa Championships to Port Harcourt.

Meanwhile Rivers State Sports commissioner, Fred Igwe added that Rivers State is committed to sports development and will continue to leave their stadium open to further use by sporting federations.

I heard Buhari cried... For what?

General Muhammadu Buhari, former military despot

I read over the net some time before Nigeria’s presidential elections that a former military despot, Muhammadu Buhari cried on TV.

Why he cried is not my business. I simply do not care but first I must say it is a shame that an army general cried in public.

He should bury his head in shame for that.

Moving on, I want to ask- did Buhari cry to get the ever gullible Nigerian public behind him before the presidential elections? Did it help him?

Many of the internet generation Nigerians do not know Buhari and I am amazed when I hear people in debates, bars, pubs and other such public places argue and some tend to suggest that Buhari may have had a solution to Nigeria’s problems.

I still remember December 1983 when they stole power from Alhaji Shehu Shagari (who was not doing well either).

Yes I was 11 years old then and in my second year in Secondary School when it happened but having a university administrator as father ensured I was way ahead of my peers in matters like that.

I remember waking up one morning and turning the radio to my favourite station then (well, only station), Radio Rivers 2, FM 99.1 stereo but rather than here such voices like those of Mabelas Macaulay Apuloma Junior, Boma Erekosima etc, I heard a strange kind of music on the radio.

I asked why the radio only played instrumentals that morning and was told that kind of music is called, “Martial Music” but I was still as confused as ever.

“So why was martial music being played rather than other programming we were used to” and my dad told me he suspected there had just been a coup d’etat.

Of course I probed some more and was told that a coup happens when the army decide to forcefully take over power from an elected government and martial music is usually played for sometime before the coup plotters make an announcement telling the country of their mission.

It was not long before a certain Brigadier Sani Abacha’s voice was heard on the radio and we all know the story from there.

Buhari was installed as Nigeria’s Head of State with a certain Tunde Idiagbon as his deputy.

I saw on television where groups of people rejoiced at the return of the military but I was not convinced.

Then one day my parents called a family meeting and announced that certain things we were naturally used to would no longer be available for us.

Items like soap, detergent, toilet rolls, milk, sugar, eggs and wait for it, these items and many more would now be known as essential commodities.

I saw on television where Nigerians queued up to purchase these items and it made me sad even though I was still just a kid then.

I never saw my parents queue up for those things. They probably did but would have been too proud to let us see such demeaning sight.

Then Buhari’s government created a draconian decree 4 of 1984 that was there to muzzle the press and before long two fellows, Nduka Irabor and Tunde Thompson had been jailed.

Muhammadu Buhari and Tunde Idiagbon who endorsed Decree 4, used the decree to impose the most restrictive anti-press freedom laws in Nigeria.

 Decree 4 was designed to shield Buhari and his minions from being accountable to the Nigerian people. The intent of the decree was clear -- to silence opinion, speculation and even the truth.

General Muhammadu Buhari is an evil man. He is a religious fanatic and he does not love Nigeria.

His regime was the most draconian of all military administrations I knew. Sani Abacha was an angel as compared to Buhari.

General Buhari should not think we have forgotten him. Like I said when I started some of our internet generation Nigerians do not know him and they are too lazy to search online for information about him and it makes my heart bleed when people even argue that he was a disciplinarian in his days and can turn Nigeria around.

I remember him then and I know him now. Like my younger brother always says, “People don’t change, they just get older” so I will do my best to ensure that Nigerians know the kind of person you are.

And that is why when I heard you cried on television I only said, this man is lucky God said call no one a fool because I would have renamed him already.

I read recently on the web where a Nigerian posted this, “...BUHARI is a RELIGIOUS FANATIC, an IRREDENTIST, an apostle of SHARIA, a sectional TYRANT and a JIHADIST in disguise”

And we are beginning to see now the kind of person he is and what he would have plunged Nigeria into.

According to www.myondostate.com these are the reasons why the evil general should never be president of Nigeria

BUHARI is a DESPOT, A TYRANT, A MURDERER, A COUPIST, A TERRORIST, A BULLY, AN OPPORTUNIST, A HEADSTRONG AND ANTI-DEMOCRATIC DESPOTIC TYRANT.

He is a COMMON CRIMINAL and an OUTLAW and he has a case to answer for OVERTHROWING A LAWFUL AND CONSTITUTIONALLY ELECTED GOVERNMENT (Never mind Decree 1).

He is anti-Press freedom, anti-democracy and he is notorious for passing OBNOXIOUS and ARBITRARY Laws and RETROSPECTIVE Laws.

BUHARI chided, as INFIDEL, any Muslim that votes for a Christian.

BUHARI is also CORRUPT for serving under and working for the DESPOTIC, 'VISIONLESS', TYRANNICAL, BELLICOSE, UTTERLY CORRUPT AND PARIAH GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA'S WORST DICTATOR OF ALL TIMES.

HE also saw nothing wrong in working for and serving under a DESPOTIC ABACHA and his ambition to transmute to LIFE PRESIDENT.

BUHARI is yet to discharge himself from the accusations of DOUBLE-STANDARDS over the 53 SUITCASES, HIS LOPSIDED APPOINTMENTS, THE $2.5 BILLION MISSING oil money.

 GEN BUHARI also remained mute and maintained a stoic silence during the RELIGIOUS RIOTS AND CARNAGE in the country.

And before I wrap up this piece for some more important stuff, I want to add that the jury’s still out on a self proclaimed man of God called Tunde Bakare who has spent the last 15 years deceiving gullible Nigerians that he was leading them to heaven.

Now being part and parcel of the brutal death of hundreds of innocent Nigerians makes me wonder how Bakare can live with himself, look at himself in the mirror or even stand and preach in his church on a Sunday morning.

But its Nigeria; a lot of people really have no conscience.

And if anything happens to me, an accident, a fall, something bad. Just know General Muhamadu Buhari and Tunde Bakare did it. They are guilty as charged.

Nigeria's biggest April Fool joke

INEC boss, Attahiru Jega

The first day of April as we all know now has been set aside for making fools out of people and is known as April Fools’ day.

I have a story about it myself. Being born on that day  I was told that my grandfather, God bless his soul refused to turn up at the hospital thinking it was an April Fools’ joke.

As hard as they tried, he could not be convinced to go.

I remember when we were kids, our idea of April Fools’ jokes were things like- “Daddy is calling you”, “I mistakenly poured tea on your school uniform”, “I saw your WAEC result and you failed woefully”.

As we grew up, more serious April Fools’ jokes like, “The boss called and says you should pick him at the airport this noon”, “Sorry uncle, but your car was snatched from me by armed robbers at a petrol station. I was shot in the leg. I’m in the hospital now”.

When I worked as sportscaster with Silverbird’s rhythm 93.7 FM in the 2005, I played a joke on more than two million fans of Premier League side, Dolphins.

After beating Accra Hearts of OAK 4-0 in a CAF Champions League match, I announced four days later that CAF had disqualified Dolphins for fielding an unregistered player.

I searched my archives for an interview with Taiwo Ogunjobi where he said, “It’s unfortunate but we must abide by CAF’s decision”. I found another interview clip I had with Fanny Amun where he said, “That was carelessness at its highest level and I hope we have learned from our mistakes.”

Taiwo Ogunjobi was then Head of Technical Department while Fanny Amun was Secretary General and these two interviews made my story on the news look real.

A year later, the Rivers State sports commissioner was made to jump out of bed and drive straight to government house because he was told the state’s athletes who were being owed then had marched to government house, carrying placards and protesting their plight.

Just two days ago, the radio station where I now work, Cool/Wazobia FM on their morning belt announced that the first ten listeners who get to the office will be given 10,000 naira (about $64)  each.

You should have seen the crowd that turned up. A lot of them had not even taken their baths.

My ultimate April Fools gaffe however, is to invite my friends to a posh lunch to celebrate my birthday only for them to see a donkey’s poster at the venue of the lunch. I’m still planning that one.

Now I think the preamble is enough.

I have always wanted to excel in everything I do. That is why I stopped playing football in 1998 because I knew I would not have been good enough to play at the World Cup( I could have signed for Lobi Stars in the Nigerian 3^rd division then).

When I see people do something great, I have always wanted to emulate them and do it better and that is why when I deceived more than 2 million Dolphins fans with my radio program I was happy at the responses or relief and anger when they found out it was a joke.

This now brings me to a man called Professor Attahiru Jega, a learned man who most Nigerians thought was our only hope to organize credible elections.

I like the man because he is very ambitious.

He had probably studied world history on voting and elections and knew he could not get into the record books for organizing the most credible elections in the world.

He also knew he could not get into the record books for organizing the worst in the world too. At least his immediate predecessor, Maurice Iwu (I can never bring myself that low to call this one a professor) holds the everlasting record of conducting the worst elections in the history of the world. That record would surely last a lifetime.

So what did Professor, Jega do? He thought of getting into the Guinness book of records somehow, but using his platform as chairman of Nigeria’s Independent Electoral Commission, INEC the perfect idea came up.

How do I fool 70 million people? Has it ever happened before? I guess not so the plan was put in motion.

So Jega accepted the job to organize credible elections and made a budget for $585m (about eighty six billion naira) and promptly drew up a schedule.

One April 2^nd we should have elections into the Nigerian Parliament.

Voters at the Ogbum-nu-abali part of Port Harcourt

Registration of voters had been done and we had about 70 million people registered to vote.

Most of these left their homes as early as 8am on Saturday, April 2^nd for accreditation and after that hung around for voting proper to commence at noon before the intelligent professor announced that it was an April Fool’s joke.

“Guys you were all fooled. You can go back to your houses now. There will be no elections today. The materials were destroyed in Japan’s Tsunami and those that survived the Tsunami could not make it out of Libya. Let’s do this again on Monday, April 4.”

We are talking 70 million Nigerians deceived so Jega can now beat his chest and say, “I made it to the Guinness book of records.”

Having said all that, we must get down to the truth of it.

Professor, Attahiru Jega is worse that the worst of the lot.

Did we criticize, Maurice Iwu? Did we ask for his head? Why? At least he organized elections, didn’t he? Jega took our money and ran.

A comment on twitter read, “Dear Jega, how can you postpone elections that have already started?

And Jega answered in his midday speech saying, “There was nothing we could do to prevent this from happening,”

He added that "In order to maintain the integrity of the elections and retain effective overall control of the process, the commission has taken the very difficult but necessary decision to postpone the national assembly elections to Monday,"

"It is an emergency," he added.

But my question now is, “At what time did he know the materials did not arrive? Because with the size of Nigeria and difficulty in movement, it is not rocket science to know that if those materials had not arrived by day break on Friday at the latest, the elections were not going to hold because it would take at least 24 hours by any means to get materials to some parts of the country.

But our learned professor woke up on Saturday morning knowing the materials had not arrived but he allowed people come out to get accredited and he waited until midday to make that announcement.

The jury’s out on you. The verdict will be out after the elections. As it stands now you are closing in on Maurice Iwu for being “Idiot of the year” but you are also a genius in having fooled so many people.

You are a failure and the sooner you realize it the better for you.

On March 22, this year, about 11 days ago, Jega said http://thenationonlineng.net/web3/news/31518.html

And I quote him, “For INEC, I can say categorically and convincingly that we are ready for the election, the question should be, are the lawyers and politicians ready?.

Besides, he said, sensitive materials were being printed at the moment, adding that vehicles and speed boats had been acquired for distribution to riverine areas.

He said the commission was working with security agencies to ensure hitch free elections.

If our learned professor said he was ready as at 11 days ago, at what point did he become unready?

I can go on and on about the man, but would want to save cyberspace and band width.

On Monday, the donkeys would be out of their houses again voting while Attahiru Jega plays with our minds.

Weldone Jega. And like some one said, again on Twitter, “Maurice Iwu meant Wuru wuru and Jega means Jaga jaga.

Another person sang, “Nigeria jega jega, everything scatter scatter.

We hail thee professor.

Why I won’t vote in Nigeria’s elections

I hear Nigerians would be voting again and I hear it starts from this weekend.
 

Why I won’t be voting?  I am Nigerian and I have a right to vote. 

In fact I am registered to vote but I choose not to and will vote only if Jesus Christ Himself is physically present at the polling station and stays there until I leave.

Are these strong words? I guess so, but if you have read thus far, be patient with me while I explain this stance.

My name is China Acheru and I am from a small community of just over fifty thousand people, Ogbakiri in Rivers State. 

I have also practiced journalism for about two decades now.

The first time I ever voted was in the 1993 elections and we all remember how that ended.

In 2003, I was a reporter with Silverbird’s Rhythm 93.7 FM Port Harcourt and as part of election duties I was asked to cover a part of Port Harcourt; monitor the elections and report live to the studio that was running updates from the different polling centers.

I was excited about this new task and I promised myself I would make the best out of it.

The first thing I saw as I stepped out of the house on election morning shocked me to the bones.

A man I respected so much, who lived down the road from me and was once the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice in my state had a few young men packing boxes I believed were for ballot from his house to a bus.

I saw it because his gate was open and I thought it shouldn’t be so; it wasn’t just right.

I immediately called the office and they put me straight on air for me to report what I had just seen.

I went straight up to visit polling centers in the area I was monitoring and there were no centers open because the officers had not arrived and of course there were no materials.

However I kept an ear open on my radio dial to know what was happening in other areas.

My colleague, Henry Kalio who is now late was reporting from the Diobu area of Port Harcourt and while he was reporting we could hear gunshots in the background.

He said as soon as the ballot papers and officers arrived, a white bus parked by his side and armed men alighted, started shooting sporadically and then fled with the voting materials.

He exclaimed that he was very close to them as they alighted from the bus and the guns they held were brand new and he said he was only just happy to be alive.                        

I knew I had to be more careful so I called on the youth leader of the area I was observing, introduced myself and told him I needed protection from the community youth while I did my job.

Luckily, I grew up in the area and mine is a popular name and face around Rivers State so they quickly obliged my request.

At this time I had four young men in my car, one in front and three behind and they started taking me to all areas that needed to be observed in the community and it was difficult to get an area where voting had commenced despite the fact that the people had come out in their numbers to vote.

I heard that a community, Alakahia would soon commence voting since materials had arrived and I drove down there only to witness the shock of my life.

As we approached the community, I spotted some hoodlums, heavily armed and instilling fear in would be voters.

In all my life I had never seen a sight like that from men who were not in the police or armed forces.

Soon I got a phone call that someone somewhere had been given short sleeve because he was part of a group sent by a political party to assassinate a rival.

The people who called me said the youth of the community where that rival lived rallied round, chased out the assassins and the one who failed to escape was short sleeved.

At that time in my life I really did not understand what short sleeve was and as I drove down I wondered why I would be called because someone was given a shirt even though my better judgment told me it had nothing to do with a shirt gift.

As I arrived at the place, noticed blood on the ground and I was told the victim who had his hand cut off from elbow had been taken away by the police to treated.

My question to them was, “you mean someone’s hand was cut off?” and they answered with a question, “What did you think short sleeve meant?”

Hmmm so that was what short sleeve meant. I have never been in doubt since then.

I tried to look at other locations but nowhere did voting take place even though the people had come out in large numbers, they were denied the opportunity to exercise their franchise and it was getting past noon already.

I got a call to return to my first location and the story was that the youth of that area had arrested a couple of men carrying ballot boxes in a bus.

I thought they were the same crew I met earlier so I quickly rushed down there.

They were the same people I had seen earlier in the day.

I interviewed one of them who confessed that they had been sent by the former Attorney General I had talked about earlier.

My community, Ogbakiri experienced a lot of shooting and violence that extended to Emohua. Very few people were lucky to vote as gun men shot at them and snatched the voting materials away.

There was gunfire in most of Diobu and the old Port Harcourt township as well as other rural areas like Etche, Okrika, Ogoni, Kalabari kingdom and a couple of other places. People also lost their lives and others were seriously wounded. 

Matchettes cuts were as common as bullet wounds.

There was an instance when at least 20 armed youth surrounded the premises of Silverbird’s Rhythm 93.7 FM brandishing dynamites and threatening to blow down the building because there was a mistake made by the newscaster when announcing results of the House of Representatives elections.

They told us there were just waiting for the order to blow down the place from their master and you’d be shocked if I mention the name of that master who sent them to do that but I love my life so I will keep quiet on that now. 

I was there when it happened.

From my observations and that of my colleagues who monitored other areas, elections did not hold in at least 75% of Rivers State yet we heard results announced decent results as if we all voted.

Four years later in 2007, I was not in Port Harcourt but I kept an eye on the elections and one story touched my heart.

A news editor from my former place of work was chased out of a community my gun wielding boys and he did not just run for his life, he was helped out by armed police who may also have been running too.

He told me while panting that as soon as he got to safety, he was offered a beer by one of the police men who rescued him because he was getting to a state of hysteria. 

In another instance, a staff of a radio house was giving live reports of election violence in community I have mentioned in the piece already and was traced by armed youth who finally caught up with him.

With at least six guns pointing at different parts of his head he was forced to call the station and report that all was going well in that area.

The situation went like this…

Ring ring… voice at the stadio “Now we have our correspondent calling in from yyy… let’s hear the latest he has to give on the elections.

Correspondent, “I, I… I want to say my senior colleague in the studio is lying… please… you all must know that the elections are going on smoothly here and everything is fine… line cuts…

He returned to the office and did not say a word to anyone because he was yet to recover from the shock. He eventually spoke up a day later.

I read reports of people encouraging Nigerians to vote and I hear a lot of names being bandied around the place- “What about us?” RSVP, and many others but where are these people going to vote? In Abuja, California or Rivers State?

Maybe these people have been paid to put up radio jingles and news paper adverts and that is why they do this but do know what it is to vote in the Niger Delta rejoin?

The truth is that I have seen enough to discourage people from voting and I will not vote so how can I be convinced things have changed?

If things have really changed, let us look at the run down to the elections this year.

Human Rights Watch estimates at least 70 people have been killed in political violence in the run-up to the national elections that will be held the next three Saturdays.

Three people were killed in northern Nigeria this week at a rally and it is said that the police stopped two heavy explosives from detonating in the same crowd.

At the last count there have been 16 bomb explosions and if you compare to 2007 as bloody as it was there were just two.

And it will also interest you to know that since independence in 1960 no Nigerian has been convicted and punished for electoral offences so these people have some sort of immunity.

A PDP rally in Abuja or somewhere close was attacked by a bomb, right?

In Ibadan, during a rally, a chief PDP supporter was killed, right?

In Ogbakiri, former governor, Celestine Omehia’s campaign team (APGA) was attacked two weeks ago and property vandalized, money stolen.

In same Ogbakiri, former commissioner for information, Emma Okah was abducted when he went to campaign for another party and released later.

Somewhere on the way to Ogoni, in Rivers State a Jeep was stopped by the police filled with arms and ammunition, and this was just last week.

We are yet to know what political party was responsible for that.

In Tai, a community outside Port Harcourt, somebody got a long sleeve treatment and there are reports that arms are being stockpiled for elections proper and I sit here typing and thinking who are these people saying we should go out and vote? Go out and vote or go out and be killed?

I can go on and on about how there have been violence in the run down to the elections and you expect me to believe the elections will be free of violence?

I am not a pessimist but realist and this is my feeling. Please somebody convince me otherwise.

I have seen instances were gun men arrived at polling stations and opened fire dispersing innocent voters and running away with voting materials.

I have seen whole communities wiped out in Rivers State because they refused to vote for particular political party.

People, I can write on and on but I believe my point is made clear now that I am not willing to risk my life and that of my family by going to vote.

Those of you who live in the comfort of Abuja can move to my state to monitor elections and then blog about it later but for now, I will say.

Am I saying all these to put fear in you? Yes I am because your life is more precious than a ballot paper.

Thanks and see you in 2015.

Jos boils again! 18 die in renewed attack

corpses in Jos after a previous attack

Attackers armed with rifles killed 18 people in a village in central Nigeria on Tuesday, the latest violence in a region beset by sectarian clashes, a local government official said.

The attack took place just before dawn in Barkin Ladi, an area close to Jos, the capital of Plateau state.

Clashes between Muslim and Christian gangs have killed more than 200 people in the region since the end of December.

"I can confirm that 18 people were killed," Fom Pam Dawak, chairman of the Barkin Ladi local government area, said.

He said one of the attackers was among the dead and that state government officials had found spent bullet casings from high-velocity rifles at the scene.

The attackers were believed to be members of the mostly Muslim Fulani ethnic group, Dawak said.

Sectarian clashes in the "Middle Belt", the central region around Jos, have killed thousands over the past decade.


Culled from Rueters

AMAECHI BLASTS SEKIBO ON SECURITY

Chibuike Amaechi (middle) flanked by Tele Ikuru and G.U.
Ake (Black Hat)

Rivers State Governor Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has assured Rivers people of continued and adequate security, and that they will sleep with their two eyes closed if he's re-elected into office in April this year.

Governor Amaechi made this promise when he inaugurated members of his Re-election campaign team at the PDP state secretariat in Port Harcourt, Thursday.

Governor Amaechi while speaking at the occassion commented no a statement credited to the gubernatorial candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Rivers State and former transport minister, Dr. Abiye Sekibo during the formal opening of his campaign office in Port Harcourt that he will provide security that will make Rivers people sleep with their two eyes wide open if voted into office.

According to Amaechi, " last night I was listening to the statement of one of the parties that said you will sleep with your two eyes wide open if you vote for them. If your two eyes are open, are you sleeping? Surely, you are not. In our government, you have been sleeping and will continue to sleep with your two eyes closed. We are not assuring our people of security because we already have security. Those who caused the insecurity in the past are now coming back to assure us of security. They  had visited us with insecurity,  ran away to Abuja, now, we have secured the town, they are back to bring insecurity."

"You cant caused insecurity and go to secure your life in Abuja only to come back to govern Rivers State. You can only govern Rivers State when you have secured the lives of our people. You can’t govern Rivers State from Abuja because you won't know what is good or bad in Rivers State, you won't know the sufferings of our people", he said.

Amaechi challenged Dr. Sekibo to show to Rivers people what he did to better their lives when he was in office as SSG in the previous administration of Dr. Odili, noting that those who led the state into lawlessness and insecurity in the past are now coming back to ask for votes from the same people whom they inflicted hardship and pains.

Governor Amaechi however told members of his campaign team to concentrate on issues-based campaigns.

He said, "We must not be arrogant about our successes, we will not allow our people to bedeceived, we must be humble and show the people that having served them, we will serve them better".

"We will not allow any criminal who breaks the law to go scot-free including those who are running elections. Nobody will be above the law; we must continue to deliver on our promises to the people. Whatever we promise our people we must do. We must keep to our promises and be held accountable for our promises", he said.

Governor Amaechi also charged the campaign team to work hard to achieve victory, stressing that the failure or success of the party in the April gubernatorial polls depend on them.

"Let me say to you that our victory or failure after God depends on you. So, you must work hard. Ibelieve that you will go home and canvass for support and ensure that on the day of the elections more persons would come out to vote for us. Don't be carried away by the popularity on the streets, we must not only think that we are popular; we must also act by helping to bring out thevotes. I believe that INEC and the Federal Government will protect everybody's vote because this time, we will ensure that everybody's vote counts."

My encounter with Ateke Tom

Ateke Tom talking to the press at his Okochiri home

I am one of those Nigerians who want to live long and that is why I have always avoided war torn areas.

It is for this reason I have not visited my home, Odouha Ogbakiri (in at least fifteen years) where a senseless communal clash took the lives of at least than one fifth of the population.

This reason made me boycott certain parts of Port Harcourt which I believed were black spots, when you consider the killing fields Port Harcourt turned into between 2002 and 2007.

Of course I won’t be found dead in the Diobu area of Port Harcourt or anywhere near the old Port Harcourt Township called Town because of the fighting and blood spilled in those areas during the dark days of Port Harcourt.

Two other places I would not visit are Okrika and Kalabari kingdoms and I believe by now my reasons for that would be clear. I would not also go near Rumuekpe in Emohua.

Just to get things straight, when I visited Sudan in 2007 I turned down an offer to visit Dafur.

Yes, I am a journalist, a sports caster with Cool 95.9 FM in Port Harcourt and late last year I started receiving text messages with results of a Wakirike Peace and Unity cup hosted/ sponsored by Ateke Tom, the former militant leader who was once alleged to have wondered why people talk badly about him since like he says “I only killed about two thousand people.”

I got the results via text message and used them regularly on my sports show on radio until I received a call one day inviting me to Okochiri in Okrika, the home town of Ateke Tom since he was supposed to present prizes to the winners of the competition.

At first I did not want to go because of myself imposed exile on places like that, but after much cajoling and pleas I thought I should try it out.

Besides I wasn’t the only one making the trip and they were not going to kill all of us would they.

On the day of the trip, I told our contact that I was not going to drive from Port Harcourt into Okrika on my own lest armed men appear from out of the bushes and open fire on us.

Yes I agree I had watched too many American movies for my liking but it had to be safety first.

We drove into Okrika at about 10am with a colleague from work and one from the Africa Independent Television and there we met others from RSTV, Silverbird’s Rhythm 93.7 FM and many others.

As we drove into the town, I remember that I had not been to that part of Rivers State since the early 80s when my dad used to take us there to see his tailor who had been making suits for him since the 1950s when he schooled at the Okirika Grammar School, OGS.

Of course, I could not remember anything from my last visit to the town because it was at least 25 years ago.

We were led to the house of Ateke Tom and the first thing I noticed was that it was still under construction.

When I asked, I was told it was destroyed by the army and air force during the last bombardment of the place.

While we waited for the ceremony to start, we saw a group of young men who obviously were not footballers file into the premises (we were outside watching at that time since we had not been invited in).

These men looked rough, scary and deadly too.

Some had horrible scars on their faces and parts of their bodies; at least two of them had an arm cut off and word went round that they were his soldiers going in to settle a pressing matter.

They spent so much time with him and by the time we went in for the pre-ceremony briefing it was already getting to past noon.

Walking into his house, he just sat behind a table with two bottles of whisky (I think) and glass cups in front of him.

He looked like any normal man on the streets of Port Harcourt, dark glasses, bling bling and smile that would make any ignorant person doubt he had ever done what he did in Rivers State between 2002- 2009.

He asked us to sit and we all did then he watched us for about two minutes and asked if we would not drink with him and nobody moved and inch... naturally.

He took a cup, poured some whisky in it and drank some of it and then said in pidgin English, “Now I don drink wetin dey make una fear, make una join me nah” which simply means, “Now I have drank the thing that scares you, would you guys mind joining me?

Some now got bold enough, stepped forward and drank but I have never tasted whisky in my life so I didn’t move an inch.

After a short session answering questions, he joked with us on a lot of issues and I just sat back wondering, “Is this the bad guy or former bad guy of the Niger Delta region sitting behind a table in front of me, telling jokes and feeling like one of us?”

After that we moved inside the main Okirika village and attended a ceremony where he presented cash prizes to winners of the football, wrestling, dancing and draught competition.

I saw elders and chiefs pay obeisance to him and I wondered, “what alife”

Masquerade dancers. Watch what masquerade
is made of

At least he is trying very hard to launder his image by hosting peace competitions and retreats.

He said he was tired of living in uncertainty and had embraced peace and the amnesty.

He also chided Boko Haram for going to war up north and the series of bomb attacks saying “We wey don see problem sabi the value of peace so make them learn o” meaning, “We who have fought before now understand what it means to live in peace and I wish they learn from us.”

Eventually we left the town back to Port Harcourt and I could finally breathe. I sure did not feel at ease there.

Now I ask myself, will I visit Okirika anytime soon? I seriously doubt it but I am happy for the experience. Thank God I also went there in peace times and not in the heat of the Port Harcourt crisis.