In Rivers State, the ex-militant leaders are clearly doing battle with Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who is leading All Progressives Congress, APC, opposition against Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, representatives in the state.
Leader of the Niger-Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, NDPVF, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, had not hidden his disdain for Governor Amaechi, but he is more interested in what happens at the national level than what Amaechi is doing in Rivers State.
Sometime ago, Ateke Tom, who is from the same area in Rivers State as the First Lady, Mrs.Patience Jonathan, flooded the streets of Port Harcourt with posters signifying his intention to run for governor.
But nothing has been heard from him since the sale of nomination forms by the political parties for the governorship primaries started.
Sobomabo Jackrich, alias Egberipapa, is another ex-militant leader that has been actively involved in the politics of the state. Rumours were rife at a time that he was going to contest for the chairmanship of his Asari Toru Local Government Area.
It is not certain if he still has the aspiration, but he has a platform, Kengema Unity Forum, KUF, that cannot be ignored by PDP when it comes to election-related matters.
Egberipapa’s group secured a Federal High Court judgment in Port Harcourt, February 18, which nullified the appointment of Justice Agumagu as acting Chief Judge of the state by Governor Chibuike Amaechi.
A governorship aspirant on the platform of PDP, Chief Barr. Nyesom Wike, visited Egberipapa as Supervising Minister of Education in April, to drum up support for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan. The visit echoed the significance of Egberipapa in the emerging political order in the state.
Despite embracing the amnesty programme, some of the ex-militants in Rivers have been recruited as political thugs by politicians, who want to assume power by hook or crook, in the state come 2015.
Kidnapping, robbery, terrorism, among other crimes, are gradually returning to the state with the involvement of ex-militants in politics, as they see it as an avenue to regain access to guns.
They have continuously indulged in acts that had, on different occasions, heated up the polity, causing undue riots, obstructing and disrupting programmes of opposing groups to favour the political aspiration of their paymaster.
Last year, the ex-militant turned thugs were mobilized to invade the hallowed chambers of the Rivers State House of Assembly to the bewilderment of the Rivers people. Similarly, the same boys were used to disrupt a political gathering at a notable hotel in Port Harcourt on September 23.
A concerned youth leader, who spoke to newsmen on condition of anonymity, bemoaned the violence ex-militants have brought into politics in the state.
He said the boys who submitted their guns to the Federal Government were building a new ammunition base with the support of their sponsors, who are desperate to achieve their political ambition.
His words: “The ex-militants are now back in the business. This time, as political thugs. They are now into obstructing and stopping political activities that are not in favour of their sponsors. Their activities heat up the whole system.
“They are causing violence and will increase malpractice in the forthcoming election. There is fear that they will cause tension at the 2015 polls in the state.”
He suggested that the boys be re-orientated before the general election in the state, else the whole thing may end in a war of sort.
