By Rhoda Owate
Eleme, Rivers State
The crisis-ravaged administration of Governor Sim Fubara of Rivers State has taken a different dimension following the recent tragic development, which seems to portray the oil-rich State as unsafe and toxic in the eyes of international communities which may suffer a drawback in her bid to reopen foreign investors. In a river near the state capital, a Dutch national, while trying to escape from a kidnapping attack, fell off the Okulu River on Monday night and plunged into the water
. Mr. Gibson Reuben, the kidnapped victim, was the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Rivers State Cassava Industry Limited, Afam, as a technical partner in the project. The incident is happening at a time when foreign investors are leaving Nigeria in droves, and Fubara is doing everything possible to woo foreign investors back to Rivers State, emphasizing the need to promote peace-building, youth mobilization, infrastructural development, and safety of investments and investors.
Governor Fubara recently signed a $300m agreement with local and foreign investors in demonstration of his commitment to boosting jobs and wealth creation for the people of Rivers State.
With this move, hopes are high that the state would welcome more foreign investors to explore the state, especially in the agricultural sector and at the Songhai Farm Holdings for the teeming unemployed youths of the state. The possibility of foreign investors coming into the state has been darkened by the unfortunate death of the Dutch.
The tragic incident occurred around 6:50 pm on Monday, 13 January 2025, when a vehicle conveying Gibson Reuben was ambushed on the death-trapped Okulu River bridge, owned by the Aleto people of the Eleme clan, Rivers State, a few kilometers away from the state capital. Reuben, who drove himself, was stopped by the abductors, and on trying to maneuver them, his Toyota Hilux Van veered off the bridge with no barrier and rammed into the current of the Okulu River. The police officer attached to the CEO was said to have escaped the traumatic incident. Inside Agwa News gathered that the spot where the incident happened had been a hotbed for kidnappers and other criminal activities attacking their targets and commuters due to how bad the road is, which does not allow easy vehicular acceleration.
According to an eyewitness who does not want his name to be mentioned, the East-West road has been subjected to attack because of how impassable the road is, especially from the Eleme junction at the entry into Port Harcourt towards Trailer Park, heading to Federal Ocean Terminal (FOT)/Federal Lighter Terminal (FLT).
The Onne axis has become notorious for kidnapping activities. “It is very sad that the road that leads to the Oil and Gas Free Zone Authority (OGFZA), Onne Eleme, Rivers State, one of the fastest-growing oil and gas free trade zones in the world, has not received the needed attention from present and past administrations despite many outcries and protests by the communities and road users. Continuing,
“This death would have been averted if the government had fixed the road; rather, they play politics with it. It was the turn of the common man yesterday; today, it is the White man, and nobody knows the next victim tomorrow. That is how bad the situation is,” he said.
Engr. Felix Onyekwere, who has been living in Eleme for over a decade and who plies the East-West Road, regretted the incident.
He described it as a bad day for road users and the people of Eleme but did not waste time to commend the effort of the executive chairman of Eleme LGA, Hon. Brain Gokpa, who promptly mobilized local divers into the Okulu River to rescue the victims before security agencies joined.
Luckily, the mobile police officer accompanying Gibson Reuben narrowly escaped, but the Hilux van was still submerged in the river till late Tuesday, about 3:55 pm when a search rescue party led by the Rivers State Command Marine Unit was alerted to rescue the Dutch, who was the driver in charge of the submerged Hilux van.
This search party successfully recovered the lifeless body of Gibson Reuben and the Hilux van.
Reacting to the attack, CP Olugbena A. Adepoju of the Rivers State Police Command visited the crime scene.
Adepoju was joined by the Police Area Command, Eleme, some handy DPOs within the Command, and tactical teams from the command who were already at the scene to see things himself and commiserate with the people of Eleme and the Government of Rivers State assuring them that the Police will do everything possible to bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice.
The CP, in the strongest terms, condemned the attack. He calls it inhumane and barbaric attacks. Adepoju ordered a thorough investigation with the immediate arrest of the hoodlums as he vowed to bring them to face justice.
A police statement according to Grace Iringe Koko, a Superintendent of Police and the Police Public Relations Officer in Rivers State, reads: “He is calling on the good people of Rivers State to provide credible information that could lead to the arrest of the fleeing perpetrators of this act.”.
Inside Agwa News gathered that the apostles of Sim Fubara are upset with the incident, alleging that the enemies of the government who do not want the progress of Rivers State led by His Excellency Sim Fubara were behind the attack.
It was further revealed that the import of the heinous attack was a calculated attempt to deny a good investment and towering profile of the governor, who is not deterred by detractors in delivering good governance to the people of the State.
Feelers from the crowd who gathered during the rescue search mission suggested that more security personnel should be deployed in sensitive areas and industrial districts such as the East-West Road, which leads to Eleme and Onne Wharf, as the call for the Federal Government to speed up her efforts in fixing the road.
Recall that the current administration in Rivers State has been plagued with a political crisis between Fubara loyalists and his estranged political godfather, the FCT Minister, Barr. Nyesom Wike, a situation that nearly caused civil unrest in the State and other security challenges.
