A delegation of eight opposition governors has advised their River State counterpart, Rotimi Amaechi, to visit President GoodluckJonathan and brief him on the poor security situation of the state.
The governors from the ACN, ANPP, APGA and CPC, said this when they paid solidarity visit to their Rivers state counterpart on Thursday, three days after four Northern governors who visited the state were pelted with stones at the airport.
The eight governors are Kayode Fayemi, Ekiti; Babatunde Fashola, Lagos State; Ibukunle Amosu, Ogun; Rauf Aregbesola, Osun andAbiola Ajumobi of Oyo State. Others are Rochas Okorocha, Imo;Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, Nassarawa and Abdul’aziz Abubakar ofZamfara State.
After a closed-door meeting with Amaechi, Fayemi who acted as spokesman for the governors, told newsmen that their mission was to stress the importance of their concern for the security of Rivers State as the issue of security in the country was far more of a major concern to Nigerians.
“We have met with our brother and chairman of our forum in an extensive discussion and he has briefed us on the situation on ground here. We do feel strongly, having listened to him, that it is quite important for him to actually go and brief Mr President, who is our leader and the chief security officer of the country on the very challenging security situation here in Rivers,” the Ekiti Governor said.
He said they also discussed the importance for the hierarchy of the police authority, as well as the need for the Inspector General of Police, to help in restoring the lost confidence the people of Rivers have in the police.
“For us, we believe that this is a matter that requires the moral authority of Mr President as well, it is about saving the democracy, it is about ensuring that peace reigns in Rivers. The tension in Rivers is avoidable and we want all parties to sheathe their sword and to help restore the peace and security of the state,” he added.