Tony John, Port Harcourt
A member representing Khana/Gokana Federal Constituency, Dumnamene Dekor, has said no mosque existed on the alleged demolished worship centre in Rainbow Town, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, as insinuated by critics of Governor Nyesom Wike.
The federal lawmaker and former commissioner for Works said at no time was a mosque built on the said land, adding also that no records from his predecessors showed that a mosque existed on the site all through his period of service as Works commissioner.
He frowned on the unsavoury comments of those he described as ‘political desperadoes’, with no other aim than to incite the Muslim community against the state governor.
The lawmaker, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt, yesterday, wondered why critics would continue to mount over a matter, which predated Governor Wike, having been resolved by a subsisting court judgement in Suit Number PHC/986/2012 between Registered Trustees of Trans Amadi Mosque, Port Harcourt (claimant) versus the commissioner, Ministry of Urban Development and Physical Planning, Rivers State, the governor of Rivers State and the Attorney General of the state (defendants).
Dekor affirmed that the court in that judgement ruled that the claimants had no approval to build on the disputed land.
He recalled that anti-Wike propagandists had in all their commentaries, affirmed that under former governor Chibuike Amaechi, the said ‘mosque’ had suffered two demolitions.
“To every rational thinker, one again wonders why there was no hue and cry against Amaechi.
“Why all this noise against Wike? It clearly shows that there is more to all this than meets the eye.
“These enemies of the state are fanning the embers of hate against Governor Wike, rooting to burn down the state just because they no longer have any stake in Rivers State, for the simple reason that they have long been rejected by the people,” he said.
Meanwhile, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said its investigations have shown that some suspected cyber criminals funded the election of some political office holders in the 2019 polls in the country.
This was even as the commission disclosed that within January and August this year, it has secured 149 convictions in internet and oil theft cases.
Port Harcourt Zonal Head of EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, disclosed this yesterday, when he addressed the media on the partnership between the commission and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in the fight against cyber crime.
Bawa noted that the zone has been working on 13 of the suspects on the FBI watch list, stating that two of the suspects, Ogbonnah Atoukaritou, formerly based in London and Alpha Chidi Egbeonu, formerly based in Japan, have been arrested.
He said the commission would soon publish names of the suspected cyber criminals and the candidates they sponsored to secure public offices, adding that such would be done when its investigations were concluded.
“We are aware about the economic, social and cultural negative consequences of these crimes. It tarnishes our image, nationally and internationally.
“Our youths are dropping out of school, they are killing genuine businesses and recent findings indicate that they are sponsoring politicians into elective offices.
“The Port Harcourt Zonal Office of EFCC is working seriously on 13 different cases of cyber crimes in collaboration with the FBI,” he said.