By George Onah
The Niger Delta Coalition Against Violence, has warned against the state of violence occasioned by politics in Rivers State and the region in general. The group said the Ogoni violence and elsewhere in Rivers State was particularly worrisome.

A statement  by its president, Mr. Christian Lekia, yesterday, said the group had discovered that the violence was in some instance traceable to imposition of candidates from the local government areas to the senatorial districts level.

The group condemned the recent violence in Ogoni, comprising Eleme, Tai, Gokana and Khana, arising from the senatorial dispute involving these local government areas and Oyigbo, Opobo/Nkoro and Andoni.

It said the state and region had just survived a “very vicious cycle of violence, which had ushered some level of peace”, explaining that “another round of violence in the area would be disastrous and should be checked at all cost.

“As an organisation against violence, we shall, where unavoidable, protest. We shall go to the law court to stop any electoral exercise that would be viewed as a rape on the conscience of the people, especially where there had been alleged illegal endorsement of candidates,” he added.