Those threatening thunder and brimstone should Siminalayi Fubara, Governor of Rivers State be impeached due to ongoing political battle, had a message from Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) – you cannot do more than a dead rat – smell.

Wike, considered a major factor in the political war which started in October 2023, barely after Fubara assumed office, and came to a head with an impeachment notice served on him in November, told reporters in Abuja, on Wednesday that the lawmakers would be within their legislative rights to carry out the impeachment, which he acknowledged was a normal process in democracy.

He said: “If you have committed an offence to be impeached, what’s wrong? Is it a criminal offence? It’s provided in the constitution. Am I a member of the Assembly?

“If you have committed an infraction of the constitution and the Assembly deems it fit to say, you should be impeached. I have heard people say: ‘Oh, if they impeach him, there will be a breakdown of law and order.’ Rubbish! Nothing will happen.”

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Wike said if the Amaewhule-led House was not disposed to peace, the Assembly would have gone on a six-month recess after the Supreme Court verdict. He rubbished the letter written to the Assembly by Fubara, saying he should have done better.

On Friday, February 28, 2025, the Supreme Court handed a raft of decisions on the protracted political situation in the oil-rich South-South state.

In the judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Akomaye, the five-man panel of the court unanimously dismissed the cross-appeal filed by Fubara challenging the validity of the House of Assembly presided over by Amaewhule as the Speaker.

In dismissing Fubara’s appeal, the court ordered Amaewhule to resume sitting immediately with other elected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

The apex court barred the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Accountant General of the Federation, and other agencies from releasing funds to the Government of Rivers State until it purges itself of what the court described as flagrant disobedience to court orders.

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Also, the apex court declared the local government election conducted in the state on October 5, 2024, as invalid.

Fubara subsequently said he would fully implement the judgments of the apex court and directed the Rivers State Independent Electoral Electoral Commission (RSIEC) to come up with modalities for the fresh election.

The electoral commission fixed August 9, 2025, to conduct a fresh local government poll in the state. The Assembly later issued an arrest warrant against RSIEC Chief, Justice Adolphus Enebeli (rtd), over failure to appear before the House.

Furthermore, the Secretary to the State Government, Tammy Danagogo, in a letter dated March 7, 2025, sought a meeting with the lawmakers for March 10, 2025 to discuss the re-presentation of the 2025 budget and a peace talk but the Assembly asked the governor to channel his invitation properly.

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In an apparent move to push-back against the 10-day nationwide protest, planned by some interests groups in Nigeria to commence on August 1, to call attention of the Nigerian government to the biting hunger in the land, scores of youths poured into the streets of Lagos, on Monday, declaring that the state would not be part of the event.

The Nation reports that the said youths who came from different locations converged on the Lagos Island area of the state to express their support for the Tinubu-led administration, while calling on other youths to “shun violent protest.”

Alluding to the 2020 #EndSARS protest that led to the destruction of property and loss of lives in the state, the youths frowned on its recurrence and would stop it from happening again.

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For the family of Janet Gimba, judge of the Upper Customary Court in Kaduna State, it is a bitter-sweet story on Wednesday, as it was served with half-plate by kidnappers who invaded their home on June 24, taking away four of its members.

Not only was the jurist was released without her three children, spirited away from their  home in the Mahuta area of Chikun Local Government Area in the outskirts of Kaduna metropolis, police have confirmed the killing of their first son by the bandits, who are asking for N150million to secure the release of the rest.

Musa Gimba, the husband of the judge, who confirmed the release of his wife judge, attached to the Upper Customary Court, Sabon Tasha Division in Kaduna State, without her three children, disclosed that the bandits are demanding N150 million ransom within three days, threatening to kill the captives if the money was not given to them.

Mansir Hassan, spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command, who confirmed the latest development, said the assailants killed the woman’s 14-year-old eldest son Victor Gimba, adding that operatives found his corpse at the Sabon Tasha Division, Ungwan Bayero of Dutse village near the toll gate, along the Kaduna- Abuja highway on Tuesday, July 2^nd, adding that the anti-kidnapping squad of the command, in collaboration with other sister security agencies was working tirelessly to rescue the victims and also apprehend the bandits.

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Channels Television, quotes Gloria Ballason, human rights activist and the Chief Executive Officer of the House of Justice as describing the abduction as contrary to Article 7 of the United Nations Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary and Sections 33 and 14(2)b of the 1999 Constitution that guarantees the safety of judges.

Bemoaning the murder of woman’s the 14-year-old son as “grisly and blood-curdling,” the activist, who also regretted the rising insecurity in Nigeria, especially in the state, therefore called on the security agencies to ensure the speedy rescue of the remaining hostages.

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