Governor Wike Bans United Igbo Community Meeting In Oyigbo

The Executive Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has placed a ban on the United Igbo community meeting that is scheduled to hold at Oyigbo Local Government Area on Saturday, April 10, 2021, noting that such meeting could spark fresh tension in the area.

The caution was revealed in a statement by the commissioner for information and communications, Paulinus Nsirim

Via the statement, the government directed security agencies “to ensure that the said meeting does not hold to forestall a breakdown of law and order in the area”.

The Oyigbo local government area which shares a boundary with Abia state is considered a stronghold of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a secessionist group which the police claims is responsible for the attacks on police officers and its facilities in the area shortly after the #EndSARS protest in October 2020.

Apart from the fragile nature of Oyigbo following the October incident, the meeting of the Igbo community is coming up at a time when the nation is grappling with attacks on police formations in Imo, which happens to be another south-east state that shares a boundary with Rivers.