Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike was engaged in a war of words with his predecessor, Rotimi Amaechi, the Minister of Transport during the burial of a former Justice of the Supreme Court, Adolphus Karibi-Whyte.
During the funeral service staged in Abonnema, Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of the state, Amaechi lamented what he termed the rising insecurity and political intimidation in the state, saying the state was back to the time of Ateke Tom, a former militant leader.
He said; “You have lost your voice. The sage (the late justice) has gone under and nobody is speaking. When I was governor, I gave people voices, but they have blocked those voices.
“Everyone is scared. We are going back to when Ateke held sway. We are going back to the period where we run away from our people. We are back to a period when nobody could speak. But from next year, I will begin to speak, if nobody wants to speak.
“We are all here because we need to bury a man God has blessed. I have stopped travelling because of bad weather, but I told myself I must be here because of Justice Whyte.
“If you knew Justice (Karibi-Whyte) very well, you will know I was close to him. I was one of the few people he mentored,” Amaechi stated.
Reacting to the statement made by Amaechi, Governor Wike described the late Karibi-Whyte as an epitome of unshakable integrity, civility and dignity, but noted that Amaechi’s comments were embarrassing.
Wike said that Amaechi had lost touch with developments in the state, adding that since the launching of Operation Sting by his administration, the security situation had improved greatly.
He added that; “It is unfortunate for Amaechi to come to Kalabari land and accuse former President Goodluck Jonathan of not developing the area six years after he had left office.
“I wonder why the former governor will choose to make such embarrassing remarks at the funeral of late Justice Karibi-Whyte, a man he (Amaechi) claimed to be his mentor,” Wike added.
