Kinsmen disown Ateke Tom

Bolaji Ogundele, Port Harcourt - 14.01.2008

The chiefs and people of Okrika in Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State and kinsmen of the militants’ leader, Ateke Tom, who had been declared wanted by the state government over his atrocities, have disowned him.

The people, who spoke through Chief Tari Sekibo when they visited the state governor, Rotimi Amaechi, at the weekend, dissociated themselves from Ateke’s activities, saying that his acts were not in consonance with their struggle.

“We condemn illegal bunkering on the Okrika Island and urge the security agencies to check the dangerous trade. “The wanton destruction of lives and properties of fellow Okrika people, as witnessed in our land for more than eight years, was not and cannot be tied to genuine agitations for resource control by well-meaning Ijaw leaders of thought,” the chiefs said.

While sympathising with families that lost their loved ones, the chiefs of Okrika expressed satisfaction with the efforts of the Amaechi administration to rid the area of the activities of “cultists, social misfits and criminals.

“Council welcomes recent security measures put in place by the state government with the singular intention of flushing out cultists and criminals responsible for the long siege, insecurity and instability and do hereby pledge our unalloyed support for and commitment to the success of the Rivers State government,” the chiefs stressed.

Responding, Governor Amaechi said he was satisfied with the people’s resolution to work with the state government, adding that he was determined to act in accordance with the oath of office he took.

“I will not close my eyes to the oath of office that I took. The oath of office that I took says I will secure lives and properties,” the governor remarked.