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Nigeria: Please Don't Live in Fear, Gov Amaechi Tells Rivers Resid
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Vanguard (Lagos)
13 January 2008
Posted to the web 14 January 2008
George Onah & Jimitota Onoyume
Port Harcourt
RIVERS State government yesterday moved to cut Tom Ateke to size when Governor Rotimi Amaechi said that the militant leader's properties would be converted to government's use.
And to give effect to the move, the governor directed the state ministry of health to move into the Evil Forest, an area considered to be Ateke's base in Okochiri, Okrika, and build a health centre for the use of the people there.
Amaechi, who spoke, yesterday, in Port-Harcourt, pointed out that his administration would not relent on its onslaught against militants and cultists in Rivers State.
Explaining that his administration had a responsibility to protect lives and properties, he urged residents of the state to ignore text messages and newspaper reports of plan to invade the state by unknown gunmen.
He dismissed the claim that militants had hand in the fire that gutted a vessel Friday at the NPA wharf in the state capital, saying it was as a result of marine accident.
Ãè have a responsibility as the governor to protect lives and property. Please don't live in fear. They are only spreading fear through text messages and newspaper reports. We are going to acquire the properties of Ateke and convert them to government use. I have directed ministry of health to clear Evil Forest and build a health centre for the people of Okochiri", he said.
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The state government had intensified its effort to dislodge Ateke Tom when the Joint Task Force in the state last December stormed areas considered to be the militant leader's hide outs in Okochiri, including the Evil Forest hunting for him. Though they missed him, they set some of his houses ablaze.
Meanwhile, a meeting between the governor and chiefs of Okrika was slated for Government House, Port Harcourt yesterday evening to discuss militant/cult problems in the area.
In another development, a group, "Okrika Citizens," has petitioned Amaechi, asking him to investigate how Oba Abibo Igbiri road project was stopped, an action they blamed on a politician from the state. A statement signed by Mr. Miebaka Hezekiah on behalf of the group said the project was awarded by the NDDC before it was suddenly stalled.
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