Hunger Protest: Wike’s Boys Threaten to Attack Gov Fubara’s Property

Former local government chairmen in Rivers State have accused Governor Siminalayi Fubara of orchestrating a violent protest against the residence of his predecessor, Nyesom Wike. The accusation comes amid widespread hunger protests that have engulfed the state.

On Tuesday, demonstrators besieged Wike’s home on Ada George Road, Port Harcourt, chanting war songs and hurling insults. The presence of police prevented the protesters from storming the mansion.

The ex-chairmen, under the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Rivers State chapter, claim that Governor Fubara sponsored the unrest. Dr. Chidi Lloyd, former Chairman of Emuoha Local Government Area, warned that they would retaliate by mobilizing supporters to target Fubara’s properties.

“We are aware that he [Fubara] directed the protesters to go to the residence of the minister. We will also organize our people and go to Forces Avenue where he is building on a 32-plot of land,” Lloyd stated. “Fubara does not have the capacity to cow anybody here. He knows it, and we know his properties and those of his cronies. Enough is enough.”

Lloyd accused Fubara of inciting ethnic tensions and questioned his use of state funds. “The protesters should gather at the government house and ask him what he has done with the N238bn he collected between May and June,” he added.

In response, the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joseph Johnson, dismissed the ex-chairmen’s claims. “They are meddling in what does not concern them. They are like ordinary citizens,” he said. Johnson downplayed the incident, suggesting that the protesters merely passed by Wike’s house, under heavy police presence.

Johnson further alleged that the former chairmen have been conspiring to escalate the protests to a state of emergency. “But all those attempts are the machinations of the wicked. The Bible has said that he disappointed the devices of the enemy so that they would not practice their enterprise,” he remarked. “What they are doing is like the last kick of a dying horse. They are already gone, and the court has pronounced them as such.”