Asari-Dokubo, IPOB, Secessionist Groups Have No business In Rivers

• “Rivers State is not a Biafran state, and we do not support any act of secession or violent agitation in the name of keeping the country together. So they can agitate for their republic in other places, but not in Rivers State.”

Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers State, has issued quit notices to Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, the founder of the Niger Delta People Volunteer Force (NDPVF), the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and other secessionist groups in the state, claiming that they have no business in the state and will not be allowed to operate there.

Wike issued the warning on Tuesday at the Government House in Port Harcourt, the state capital, when he received the Chief of Army Staff (CoAS), Lt. General Ibrahim Attahiru, who was on a courtesy visit to the state.

Wike was responding to Asari-Dokubo, the newly created Biafra Customary Government’s, recent declaration (BCG).

Dokubo said in a statement announcing the BCG that the new government would include all of the country’s South-South and South-East regions, with him as president.

However, when speaking to the CoAS, Wike stated unequivocally that he will not tolerate Dokubo, IPOB, or any other secessionist group seeking to use Rivers as a base for their separatist operations.

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He encouraged agitators and separatists to take their protests elsewhere, saying that the state was not a part of Biafra and would not support their activism.

“Those who talk about independence can go wherever they want, but not from here. Wike declared, “We are not a part of any secession.”

“We will support the Army and other security agencies to ensure that the level of crime and criminality in this state is reduced,” he continued.

While responding to the governor, Attahiru, who was in the state to assess the Nigerian Army’s 6 Division, praised him for his zero-tolerance policy toward separatist groups.

“I also appreciate your continued stance of zero tolerance toward separatist groups, as well as your contribution to promoting peaceful coexistence among Rivers State’s various communities.”