The executive of Ekere met on the 14th May, 2003 to review the elections of 12th, 19th April and May 3rd 2003 as it relates to Rivers State in general and Ikwerre Ethnic Nationality in particular, to fashion out a way forward for the organization after the said elections and prepare for her 2003 second quarter delegates conference.
On the elections, Ekere condemns the manner and style the elections were conducted.
In particular, Ekere condemns the INEC, the Police, the Army and all other law Enforcement Agencies who all collaborated in various unbecoming acts of intimidation, brutalisation, arrests and all manner of electoral malpractices, including ballot box stuffing, thumb printing, swapping of figures and falsification of electoral reports.
We seriously condemn the use of security agencies other than the Police in supervising the elections. We believe that the use of the military was intimidating to the populace and as such the army should in future not be involved in a purely civilian exercise such as the election for the survival of Democracy in Nigeria.
We also want to use this opportunity to commend Chief Sergeant Awuse for his exemplary conducts during the campaigns and the elections. Even in the face of provocations and attempts on his life, he remained calm and focused. For this we want to believe that the support Ekere gave him is worth it and remains unshakeable. We appeal to him to continue to be steadfast as he seeks justice through legal means as provided for in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Finally, Ekere congratulates its entire membership in the four Ikwerre speaking local government areas of Rivers State including the non-indigenes in our midst, for defying the obvious threats, intimidations, arrests, detentions and even death and still came out to exercise their franchise in area where they were allowed to do so.
You were all magnanimous, even when you knew that your mandate was stolen, subverted or ignored. You were also in some areas, denied the right to exercise your civic responsibilities in a majority of our communities, again, you kept calm. You were beaten, brutalized, and killed by both party thugs and law enforcement agents who became partisan, you did not fight back.
You saw houses where electoral materials were illegally used, results written, and all kinds of electoral malpractices perpetuated and you remained calm.
We truly salute you. We use this opportunity to assure you that the spirit of Ekere still lives and will continue to live with your unwavering support.
We thank God, above all things for life. The struggle continues.
DAVE WODU Chairman, National Publicity Committee, Ekere
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