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Sharp condemnation, especially from the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), has greeted Governor Nyesom Wike’s signing of the Rivers State Neighborhood Watch Safety Corps Law No. 8 of 2018 into law.
Wike, last week assented to the Neighborhood Watch law, along with two others – the Rivers State Secret Cult & Similar Activities Prohibition Amendment Law No. 6 of 2018 and the Rivers State Kidnap Prohibition Amendment Law No. 7 of 2018.
Some provisions of the new law allow some members of the Neighborhood Watch to bear arms, in addition to the governor having the power to direct the agency to carry out arrest and also to prosecute accused persons.
While signing the bills into law, Wike said that the Neighbourhood Watch Safety Corps cannot work without the approval of security agencies who would profile all the operatives.
He said anybody who loves Rivers State will not do anything to undermine steps that will enhance the security of lives in the state.
“If your hands are clean, you have nothing to fear about the three laws that I have given assent to. By tomorrow, I will appoint the person that will head the Neighbourhood Watch Safety Corps. All criminals will face the full weight of the law. We will fight crime and ensure that the state is safe for investors,” Wike said.
But prominent Rivers citizens, mostly from the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) have risen in stiff opposition to the Neighborhood Watch Safety Corps Law, describing it as illegal and against the rule of law.
Dr. Dakuku Peterside, the 2015 APC governorship candidate in his reaction declared he would join other people of goodwill in the state to challenge the law in the court.
The director general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) warned that such powers as granted by the law to the state governor if left in the hands of Governor Wike would cause more harm than good.
He claimed that the law is an attempt to use illegal platform to legally arm youths in the state.
Another chieftain of the APC, Ezemonye Eziekel Amadi described the law as an abuse of the rule of law, adding that legitimacy of the law is a subject of litigation at the Federal High Court.
The immediate past commissioner of Land and Survey, while speaking to journalists in Port Harcourt said; “Mr. Chizi Enyi and I on the 9th of March 2018 filed a suite at the Federal High Court as claimants against the governor of Rivers State, to declare the purported Neighborhood Watch bill a nullity and the processes of court were served on the governor on the 14th of March and on the 15th of March, 2018 he proceeded to sign that bill into law”.
He explained that the by his action, Wike had undermined the rule of law and that he must retrace his steps forthwith and allow the court to come out with a decision on the matter.
Amadi described the bill as obnoxious, adding that the matter would be pursued to its logical conclusion in the court of competent jurisdiction. He further said that the law “is inconsistent with the spirit of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
He called on the people to remain calm and not to worry about what the governor wants to achieve with the law because according to him it would not stand legal test of time.
He said; “We will pursue our matter to its conclusion and ensure that his plan of the present administration to shackle the entire state will not come to pass”.
On his part, a legal practitioner, Chizi Enyi said Wike assenting to the law was an exercise in futility. “How come suddenly he has signed the Neighborhood Watch bill into law when he was served the process of the Federal High Court on 14th of March 2018,” he stated.
“The Neighborhood Watch law is subject of litigation at the Federal High Court and the matter adjourned to May 14, 2018. For me, there is nothing like the Neighborhood Watch because anybody who answers to be a member of staff of the Neighborhood Watch would be charged for impersonation until the court decides otherwise,” Enyi said.
