The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has condemned what he describes as “the barbaric, nasty and heinous assassination” of Barrister Ken Atsuete in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Monday.
Peterside made the condemnation on Monday in a statement.
He said the killing of Atsuete, also a lawyer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, was “perhaps the deadliest of several politically-motivated killings perpetrated in Rivers State in recent times”.
The statement reads: “Ken Atsuete was a prominent human rights activist, political commentator, fiery critic of bad governance, citizen activist and most recently lawyer to Hon. Ojukaye Flag-Amachree, the APC leader held for trumped-up charges.
“Without any doubt, the killers of Ken Atsuete were driven by the insidious objective of instilling fear in the rank of the opposition, silence every voice of reason and stifle opposition in Rivers State. The killing of Ken Atsuete is perhaps the height of impunity which is now an everyday way of life in my home state of Rivers.
“I call on the Inspector-General of Police, Director-General of State Security Service and other national security authorities to carry out extensive investigation of this awful incident, bring the perpetrators to book and restore sanity to our dear State.
“The current government in Rivers State owes us a responsibility to protect lives and property no matter the political persuasion of who is involved.
“Indeed, I mourn with the immediate family of Ken Atsuete, his associates and APC political family on this needless loss of the Voice of Reason.”
