The recent mayhem which happened in Njemanze, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, signposts the fact that all is still not well in the oil city - even in the face of the deployment of armed uniformed men. But the present wave of violence is the collateral damage which the polity has to suffer because politicians and business men chose to arm young men with dangerous and sophisticated weapons while fighting to retain or wrest power from one another. What would government do, since it has the protection of lives and properties as its primary objective?
When does a government live up to its responsibility to ensure that “The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”. This is the spirit and letter of Section 14 (2) (b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Now, race to Port Harcourt city: The Njemanze settlement located at the South West edge of Port Harcourt is like a village built for destruction. And it has, indeed, suffered such a fate.
A shanty town, it consists of concrete buildings and numerous shanties built on what looks like the foot of a cliff. When you are approaching the area on a boat, it looks like a settlement built at the foot of a hill. But as you approach by land it gives the picture of a town built in a valley.
Therefore, if for any reason the residents of the settlement came under attack, they would have to head for the river as a way of escape or climb a hill on to Port Harcourt mainland. The invaders who attacked the settlement in the early morning of last Sunday did not give the residents a chance. They came by boats and motor vehicles and blocked every entrance to the settlement before they proceeded to unleash mayhem on the people in the somewhat enclosed settlement.
A day after that attack that left over 50 houses destroyed and seven people dead, you could still see fear etched on the faces of the survivors who are still to decide where next to pitch their tent.
Many others have wandered into mainland Port Harcourt to stay with friends or family members and some have settled elsewhere outside Port Harcourt. Over three thousand people have been rendered homeless.
When Vanguard visited the scene, one could see the readiness or eagerness by victims to speak of their plight –– an eagerness matched only by an equal readiness to make you understand that they are speaking anonymously because the attackers had left with a warning that they would be back.
At Njemanze street, the major road leading to the settlement by land, a Ford van painted in yellow and brown with Akwa Ibom registration number XA 214 NTE was seen parked by the side of the road close to the path leading to the settlement.
The back doors of the Ford are open and some of the victims of the attack are seen packing chairs, stools and mattresses into the van. About two houses away, one could see mattresses, chairs, stools and cooling utensils, stacked against a wall of a building and several children (about four of them, scantily clad) are sitting on stools in front of the retrieved property. A man in blue jean and a white shirt, walks past, carrying a folded mattress on his shoulders; a middle-aged woman, wearing a sad face is sitting on a stool among an assortment of chairs, stools, pots and crates.
Yet, not faraway, a woman is standing by an impatient Okada operator as she haggles the fare; then another man, carrying a mattress on his head walks past.
The path leading to the settlement from Njemanze street is busy with human traffic as people walk towards the settlement to have a look or retrieve whatever they could, while others walking back from the settlement with what they have recovered from the wreckage or what they have seen with their eyes - this scene is reminiscent of an exodus of sorts.
As you stand on the hill overlooking the settlement, the devastation that had been wrought by the invaders is not only a load on the eye but also a burden on the mind.
You are looking at the rooftops of hundreds of houses and about the middle of this, there is a huge gaping hole or an extended valley where tens of houses once stood but the vast expanse of the devastated area is now strewn with disfigured mounds of earth, stones and piles upon piles of torn and burnt corrugated iron sheets, along with broken or burnt furniture.
“Don’t mention my name,” said one of the victims, a twenty-something year old young man who sat on a mound of earth as he narrated his ordeal to Vanguard.
Hear him: “Around 10.40p.m Sunday night, we were all here. Some had gone to bed; some had not gone to bed when we heard the first gunshot. I was inside the house and I could hear the attackers arguing amongst themselves. Some were saying, “I won’t go,” others were saying, “we must go” and such things.
“Finally they agreed to commence the attack. It appeared that the first gunshot was a signal to their other colleagues that they had arrived at the settlement. We were to know later that they came by speedboats and motor vehicles and had blocked every entrance to Njemanze.
“We were also to know later that at the time of that gunshot, some of them were already inside the settlement.
“Minutes after that first gunshot, every entrance leading into Njemanze resounded with gunshots followed by explosions which was later followed by gunshots which lasted till about 12 midnight.” Continuing, he said:
“They now began to pour fuel on the buildings and set fire to the houses and while they were doing that, we could hear them issuing threats, saying things like ‘if you come out, you’ll be shot.’
“They repeatedly said, ‘if you come out, you’ll be shot, so just remain inside your houses and be consumed by the fire.’”
Asked if they spoke good English, the young man responded thus:
“No, they spoke in pidgin. They were saying ‘Vigilante, una think say una get power? Una fit stop us? Una come pursue us from our own place. We tell una say we go come for una’” and that ‘the day we go come for una, una go see something. Not make una come out now’ after that they released more gunshots.”
Few minutes later, members of the Vigilante came out of their houses inspite of the risk and tried to confront the invaders. But he explained that there was not much that they could do because “the attackers came with sophisticated weapons.
“If the Vigilante group had been fully armed, the attackers would not have been able to unleash this havoc. I can’t see somebody, who is armed with a machete confronting a man that is armed with Ak 47 assault rifle.”
Although he refused to give his name, he however disclosed “I was an employee of M.M. Abasah Ltd, a furniture manufacturing company which was burnt down by the invaders.” He then went ahead and pointed at where the company once stood but which was now represented by fallen walls, and displaced concrete slabs.
“Government should do something,” he appealed, “otherwise, we will all be sent packing from Rivers State because of these cultists.”
Vanguard gathered that some cultists that were flushed out of the settlement about a year ago were the ones responsible for the mayhem in the view of some of the victims.
Once again, Rivers State is at crossroads.
Penultimate Sunday groups that go by the names ‘Biafrans’ and ‘Federal’ troops clashed in Ataba in the Andoni Local Government Area of the state and about 60 people are either dead, or missing from that clash. But that was not all.
Properties running into millions of naira were destroyed.
Exactly a week after the Ataba catastrophe, the Njemanze invasion occurred with over 50 houses burnt down and about 7 lives lost. These developments have again called to question the assumption or assertion by government that the war against violence or cultism in the state is being won by government, or is winnable.
They have also shown that fairly large number of the citizenry are still in possession of huge piles of illegal firearms inspite of the over 400 firearms (including hundreds of AK 47 assault rifles) that have been allegedly surrendered to government by repentant cultists in the state.
The police have however stepped into the matter.
There are some issues which need critical appraisal;
First, since the people who attacked have said they would embark on a return journey, what would government do to ensure that that return journey does not see the light of day. Or, that even if the attackers do make that return journey, government would be able to effectively carry out its responsibility as spelt out in Section14 (2) (b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria viz: “The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”.
Is government up and doing.
Second, and more embarrassing is the rumour making the rounds that there are some cult groups working covertly for some state governors - in the South South geo-political Zone - and who have made Port Harcourt city their base.
Still, there are high tension insinuation that even within Rivers State, some groups are being treated with kids’ gloves while others are being clamped down on.
The onus has now been shifted onto the shoulders of President Olusegun Obasanjo who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian armed forces, as well as his buddy, the Rivers State Governor, Dr. Peter Odili, to demonstrate good faith to the people of Rivers State in their collective execution of the letters and spirit of Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution..
To be fair, Governor Odili alone can not in any way handle the magnitude of the security problems on ground. For instance, most of the oil servicing companies that moved from strife-torn Warri in Delta State to Port Harcourt, came with all the troubles their activities can inspire.
Add to this the tussle in the geo-political zones between Dr. Odili and his other colleagues who see in him somebody who has to be down graded. These just with a view to positioning for the 2007 presidential race. Not that these governors are pursuing the first slot, they are angling for the number two slot - interesting.
In fact, there are those who trace the present cult wars to the arming of the groups preparatory to the elections of last year. In deed, prior to the elections, these groups represented political interests jostling to retain or wrest power from the incumbent Governor Odili. Immediately after the elections and the return of Odili, the financial perks which used to be handed out to the cultists suddenly ceased. However, what did not cease but which waxed incremental was the cultists’ ability and desire to make good for themselves.
The present wave of violence is the collateral damage which the polity has to suffer for arming young men with dangerous and sophisticated weapons while fighting to retain or wrest power.
And when you inter-face the fact that the Niger Delta region is one huge mass of creeks interlocking and blurring state boundaries, it would be easy to appreciate the nature of the crisis on ground.
Whether it would now be taken as a major task to disarm these cult groups once and for all and spare the people and business concerns in Rivers State the terror they unleash is to be seen.
