Heads must roll, Siminalayi Fubara, Rivers State Governor, fumed on Tuesday, as he has inaugurated seven-man  Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate the arson, killings, and destruction of property at various local government council secretariats in the state, following the outbreak of violence that erupted on Monday on the heels of the swearing-in of 23 newly-elected local government executives a day before.

Against all odds, including the withdrawal of the police ostensibly on the orders of the court, Fubara went ahead to conduct the council polls, on the explanation that the state needed to join others in constituting elected officials to manage the councils to beat the window of grace granted by President Bola Tinubu to stop federation allocations to all states without such structure in place.

Inaugurating the seven-member commission, which has Justice Ibiwengi Minakiri as Chairman at the Executive Chambers of Government House in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, a visibly angry Fubara, swore that the full weight of the law would be brought down on anybody found culpable in the act, no matter how highly placed.

Members of the commission, which also had Inyingi Brown as the Secretary; and Uzor Ikenga as the counsel, included Felicia Nwoke; Blessing Didia; Sir Samuel Egbe; and Venerable Alex Usifor, are expected to conclude its function in one month, a statement by Nelson Chukwudi, Fubara’s spokesman, said in a statement.

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Bewailing the devastating attack, which also resulted in the burning of no fewer than four LG secretariats, the governor recalled that action mimicked a similar scenario in 2014, months to the general elections of 2015 when courts were set ablaze, residences bombed and people killed, leading to the closure of courts in the state.

Declaring that his administration would not look away while ill-guided youths and sponsored political thugs turned the state into a theatre of violence without being made to pay for such crimes against the state, the governor, said: “So, I have decided to take this action to find out the immediate and remote causes of this arson, most importantly, no matter the personalities involved, we must bring them to book.

“So, this assignment is very important. It is an assignment that, if it is not done rightly, would give the enemies of this State opportunity to continue. And if we are right, it is going to be the end of further destruction of public property in the state. I know it is going to be very tasking. I can assure you that there will be threats, but you have to be strong.”

Explaining that Tuesday’s measure was actually long overdue owing to incidences that have been witnessed since his administration came on board, he cited the case in October, 2023, where a similar incidence was experienced, which he ignored believing that everybody was of the same political family, adding that the persistence of the violence and differences between people who had once worked together had destroyed chances of settling any misgivings internally.

He said: “It has become very clear that rather than getting close to the path of peace, this state is gradually turning into a kingdom where law and order is no longer the order of the day and we cannot fold our hands and allow such thing to happen. On the 5th of October, 2024, about four days ago, we had an election in this state.

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“Before the election, we also heard from a lot of quarters, songs of war, (and) threats but we never took them seriously because we believed that a local government election is a prerogative of the state government. It has nothing to do with anybody anywhere that is outside the confinement of our state. And for that reason, we believed strongly that whatever it is, we could manage it to produce the purpose of that election.

“But, it is very unfortunate that after the election, even while the election was going on, several things happened, which we managed, thinking it was going to end there. The day after the election, there were also more threats from people, and we also thought it was just a normal threat, believing that it was not going to be out of hand but it did.”

To the commission, he said: God has not made any mistake to find you suitable for the assignment given to you. I urge you to work with the mind of actualising the purpose of the assignment. History will not forget this responsibility given to them. Your job is to: “Determine the underlying causes of the violence and identify the individuals or groups reasonable for the attacks on some Local Government Council Headquarters and the harm caused to citizens.

“Evaluate the extent of damage to property, infrastructure, and human lives and estimate the financial losses incurred. Examine whether the violence was politically motivated, and if so, identify the key players and their roles in instigating the violence. Assess the effectiveness of the security agencies’ response to the violence and identify areas for improvement.

“Investigate the actions of individuals and groups involved in the violence in the face of the relevant laws, including the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015, etc. Advise on adequate compensation and support for victims and their families, as well as measures to prevent future occurrences.

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“Make recommendations on long-term strategies to prevent similar incidents in the future, including recommendations for policy reforms, community engagement, and conflict resolution mechanisms. Recommend appropriate sanctions for individuals and groups found culpable. Make other relevant recommendations in light of its findings which the commission may consider appropriate,” and also mandated the commission to submit its report within “one month.”

Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), on Tuesday denied flatly ever directing the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to halt the operation of its refineries and instead focus solely on equity participation in other refineries, stating that the account that was credited to him was false.

In a statement personally signed he personally signed the Minister maintained that the claims attributed to Kamoru Busari, Director of Upstream in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, who represented him at a recent conference in Lagos, were false and did not reflect his position or that of the Federal Government.

His words: “My attention has been drawn to statements attributed to Engr. Kamoru Busari, Director of Upstream in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, who represented me at a recent conference in Lagos. I wish to categorically state that the claim that I directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to stop running its own refineries and focus solely on equity participation in other refineries is false.

“The NNPCL is an independent entity governed under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources does not control or run its operations. It is important to clarify that NNPCL is a company governed under CAMA, with a functional board and management. The Ministry of Petroleum Resources does not control or run NNPCL, as it operates independently like any corporate entity.”

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Reaffirming his commitment to supporting the growth and independence of NNPCL, ensuring that its operations are in line with international standards for efficiency, transparency, and profitability, Lokpobiri reiterated FG’s commitment to promoting in-country refining and supporting the independence of companies operating in the oil and gas sector, including the NNPCL, adding that the oil and gas sector is fully deregulated, and the government only provides strategic guidance, while companies are encouraged to follow global best practices.

“The Nigerian government remains committed to promoting in-country refining. We encourage companies, including NNPCL, to operate independently and follow global best practices. While we provide strategic guidance, we do not interfere directly in the operations of these companies,” the minister noted.

They’re listening to me now. Everybody is listening to me saying I’m not in support of violence. Nobody in his right senses will support what is going on in the state,” were the words with which Nyesom Wike, former governor, exculpated himself and his supporters from the mayhem which engulfed various parts of Rivers State on Monday.

Wike, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, who was a guest of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television, however told his host that whoever was in search of lasting peace in the state should tell Siminalaye Fubara to obey court orders, one of which barred him from conducting last Saturday’s local government election in the state.

The former governor, who has been fingered in the crisis, which has engulfed the state since October last year, including the alleged attempt impeach Fubara, by a group of House of Assembly members in the state, flatly denied any sort of involvement in the crisis, adding that he decided to leave the governor alone to his devices to run the state in the manner he wished.

Against the backdrop of Fubara’s revelation on how he had continued to beg him over the matter, including kneeling before him to allow him a breather, Wike said such a thing never happened, wondering what could cause the governor to kneel, saying the issue was all about he (Fubara’s) decision to disobey President Tinubu.

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“What did he kneel down to me for? That’s the question you should be asking me. First of all I deny it happened. Never! He never knelt down for me, why should he kneel down? What offence did he commit? Did he commit an offence to kneel down? If he knelt down, what did he kneel down for? It is not correct.

“The point I’m making is about the intervention by Mr. President. And I said, the President cannot, as the father of the nation, Mr. President cannot come and call you and say, look, this should be done, this should be done. We said okay, Mr. President, we’re going to comply and we did comply. And then you started playing games. And we said, okay, if that is the case, we’re out of it.”

Reacting to Monday’s violence, which led to the burning down of four local government secretariats in the state Wike, who attributed it to the propensity for Nigerians to always ignore the rule of law, insisted that the people must always obey court orders, adding that Fubara and his supporters had gotten up to 31 judgements from the Rivers State judiciary, which were obeyed without resorting to self-help.

“The problem is that Nigeria is a country where anything goes and anybody can do anything and go scot-free. This country is a country where anybody can do anything and go free. You fall back to social media, to carry blackmail, to carry propaganda without telling people this is what is happening.”

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