Following the reported stoning of the convoy of four northern governors, who visited Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, northern youths have declared their intention to retaliate the ‘humiliation’ of their leaders if the situation ever repeats itself.
The youths under the aegis of Arewa Rapid Response Network (ARRN), decried a situation where their northern leaders are called unprintable names by people they described as ‘criminal war lords’ warning that the North will no longer tolerate a situation where its leaders are made to face a gangster-like humiliation similar to the Rivers episode.
In a statement signed by National Coordinator of the group, Yakubu Ahmed B.K and made available to newsmen in Kaduna, the group noted that “Northern youths equally have many options including the option of retaliating and if anybody is in doubt, then Jonathan and his cohorts should be held responsible if a repeat of the Rivers show of shame leads to other unpalatable events that may follow.
“The north has received enough humiliation in the course of the Jonathan presidency with criminal war lords calling our leaders unprintable names, calling for war against the North, making very inflammatory statements and challenging the basis of our nationhood without any effort by the presidency to call them to order”, the statement read in part.
While blaming the crises in Rivers State on the mismanagement of the imbroglio between what it called “desperate pro-Jonathan forces bent on forcing the president on the ruling PDP in the 2015 general elections” and supporters of Mr. Amaechi, the youths said President Goodluck Jonathan cannot absolve himself of blame for the risky dimension the problem is assuming.
“It is clear to all that the presidency is the chief instigator of the violence in Port Harcourt, which has almost made the state ungovernable leading to the taking over of the functions of the Rivers state House of Assembly by the House of Representatives. As things stand now, the crisis in Rivers state is threatening to engulf the nation owing to the risky dimension the problem is taking” it said.
“While the crisis may look entirely as the business of the PDP, we must be careful not to stir up other chain of events that would snowball into an uncontrollable national crisis capable of leading to other unsavoury events that may truncate our nascent and vulnerable democracy.”
