The judicial commission of inquiry set up to look into the arson, killings and destruction of property that occurred following the October 5, Rivers State local government election has submitted its report.
Governor Siminalayi Fubara had charged the commission to, as part of its terms of reference, examine the remote and immediate causes of the incidents, identify the culprits, and recommend long-term strategies to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Speaking after he received the report, Governor Fubara said his administration will implement the recommendations to the letter to put an end to what he referred to as ‘unreasonable violence that makes no sense in politics’.
The seven-member panel, chaired by Justice Ibiwengi Minakiri, was inaugurated on October 8, 2024, and was tasked with probing the violence that erupted after the local government election, with a one-month timeline to complete its assignment.
The violence occurred shortly after the police had re-opened all the 23 local government council secretariats in the state, months after they were sealed following the crisis that erupted after the expiration of the tenure of the immediate past chairmen who were bent on staying beyond their terms.
Some persons were said to have been killed, while several others sustained various degrees of injuries, with properties worth millions of naira destroyed.
The four volumes of the report contain the memoranda, exhibits, record of proceedings, findings and recommendations by the commission.
Justice Minakiri says Rivers State will be a better place if the recommendations are properly implemented. Her fears were quickly doused by Governor Siminalayi Fubara, who vowed to ensure thorough implementation of the Commission’s recommendations, pledging never to be a party to anything that would lead to violence in the state.
With the Justice Ibiwengi Minakiri judicial commission of inquiry completing its assignment, Governor Fubara says the report will be presented to the state executive council for consideration, after which the government will come up with a white paper that will be followed to the letter.
(Editor: Oloyede Oworu)
