Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of the Federation Lateef Fagbemi Wednesday alleged that the suspended governor of River State Siminalayi Fubara, encouraged Niger Delta militants to blow the Trans Niger pipeline.
In his broadcast suspending governor Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu and the House of Assembly members on Tuesday, President Bola Tinubu cited the blown-up pipeline as one his reasons for declaring an emergency rule in Rivers State.
Speaking after the President Tinubu faced a lot of backlash for taking the action, Mr. Fagbemi justified the suspension and the state of emergency saying Fubara failed to discourage the militants from puncturing the pipelines.
“There were what I will call telegraphing of the militants, I will say, by the governor. And the reason I say so is, when he began, he said oh, he will let them know when it was time to act.
“Let us say it was false. Did he come out to disown them? The answer is no. And a week later, they swung into action. You saw or witnessed the vandalisation of oil pipelines.”
Fubara has yet to respond the allegations but in a statement he said he did all his best to maintain peace and security in Rivers State, but his antagonists were not ready to tow the line of peace.
