The Advocates of Social Justice for All (ASJA) has commended the security agencies for restoring peace in the face of violence that accompanied the re-run election in Rivers state saying that security operatives must also be praised for remaining calm in the face of provocation from sponsored thugs.
ASJA’s Executive Director, Torkuma Asong, who disclosed that his group independently monitored the Rivers re-run election, told newsmen in Abuja that it is condemnable that the real brains behind the violence are now trying to demonize the Army and other military services in attempts to blame others for their involvement in the atrocities committed.
Asongo noted that it was reassuring to know that the army arrested several persons who were impersonating military personnel without deferring to the state government appointees that were conveying the impostors around to terrorize the electorate during the polls.
He stressed that “It is commendable that the Army refrained from applying a scorched earth tactics even when desperate politicians orchestrated the killing of military men shortly before the election. They however focused on the primary task of saving the lives of Nigerians instead of being weighed down or distracted by the losses they suffered.
“The arrest of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Special Projects, Cyril Dum Wite by soldiers, at Kpor and Bori in Gokana and Khana Local Government Areas respectively, is clearly a pointer to where the attacks against the army were coming from. No one can correctly predict the ugly outcome that would have followed had the army allowed these men to successfully impersonate the institution’s good name.
“With what transpired in Rivers state, the Army has clearly demonstrated that the show of shame that took place in Ekiti state governorship election in 2014 was not the in line with the way it performs its constitutional duties.
“The military’s timely intervention saved democracy in not just Rivers state but in Nigeria at large since violence could have spread to other parts of the country from the rancorous way that politicians were going about the exercise.” Torkuma explained.
He demanded that all those caught in the act of committing electoral crimes, including the Rivers SSG and Governor’s aide, should be made to face the law to serve as deterrence to would be election riggers in future election since no one is above the law.
