Bayelsa: IYC demands immediate sack of Wike over anti-Ijaw comments
By Tapre Timine, Bayelsa
The Central Zone of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has called on President Bola Tinubu to immediately dismiss the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, following controversial remarks deemed offensive to the Ijaw nation.
This resolution was made public after an emergency congress held at the Ijaw House in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, on Sunday.
Speaking after presiding over the congress, the Chairman of IYC Central Zone, Comrade Peres Ineifie, condemned Wike’s comments made on national television and during a recent event in Abalama, Rivers State.
According to Ineifie, Wike’s description of the Ijaw people as the “minority of minorities” in the Niger Delta is both historically misleading and a slight against the contributions of the Ijaw ethnic group to Nigeria’s development.
He said: “How can a sitting cabinet member from the Niger Delta region say we are the minority of the minorities in Ijaw land, Wike need to be schooled that our ancestors fought for Nigeria, our fathers created Rivers State, where was he when Chief Dappa Piriye was leading the Different coalition in the whole of Africa and Nigeria, we will not want to join issues with him, we are telling President Tinubu to sack Wike or he will not enjoy the support from our people.”
As part of their action plan, the IYC announced a peaceful two-kilometre protest walk to denounce what they described as false and degrading statements by Wike, announcing the notable contributions of the Ijaw ethnic group, Nigeria’s fourth largest with populations spread across Edo, Ondo, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Delta, Rivers, and Bayelsa States.
The emergency congress, attended by representatives from various Ijaw clans, including two chapters from Rivers State, also featured a special worship session where the youths prayed to God and the deities of the land for the swift dismissal of the Minister, whom they labeled “an enemy of the Ijaw nation.”
In attendance were prominent IYC national officers such as Comrade Victor-Gow Ayibatari, National Financial Secretary; Comrade Aris Fekorogha, Director of Mobilization; his deputy, Comrade Bob Emmanuel-Abiye; Legal Adviser, Comrade Bob Collins Igbeta; Immediate Past Speaker of the IYC Mobile Parliament, Comrade Ebi Timilaemi; and Former National Treasurer, Comrade Inebaraton Preye.
Also present were Dr. Tokpo Coronation, APC chieftain; Dr. Inebaraton Preye, MD/CEO of Newzmarshal Nigeria Ltd; Comrade Amiebi Turner; clan chairmen, and youth leaders from across the Niger Delta region.
