Nyesom Wike, the former governor of Rivers State, has opened up about the life-threatening challenges he faced during his tenure as the chief executive of the oil-rich state.
Wike, who spoke at a special thanksgiving service organised by his family at the St. Peters Deanery, Rumuepirikom, Obio-Akpor on Sunday, June 18, 2023, said he was poisoned at the secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2018 and almost lost his liver and kidney.
He said he was flown to Beirut at midnight, where doctors informed him that his organs were damaged and that he had little chance of survival.
However, by a divine intervention, he said his condition improved and he was discharged after a week. He said he did not know who poisoned him and that he became suspicious of everyone around him.
“But God saw us through. When you are in office, many people think things are going well with you. Nobody wants to find out the problems you are facing as a human.
“In December 2018, it was the day my former Chief of Staff was going to have thanksgiving. I was to attend that thanksgiving. From that Sunday on, I never came down from my room. It was bad.
“But those who attended the January 1 state banquet of 2019 will know that I never spoke that day. I just sat down there and told the deputy governor to speak on my behalf. I thought it was over.
“I didn’t know I had been poisoned at our party’s secretariat, the doctors, after some treatments, returned and told me my organs had started working again.”
Wike also revealed that his wife, Justice Eberechi Wike, was diagnosed with cancer while he was campaigning for the presidential primaries of the PDP in 2019.
He said he wanted to withdraw from the race but his wife encouraged him to continue. He said he was grateful to God for healing his wife and sparing his life.
Wike thanked God for seeing him through his turbulent journey to power in 2015 and for protecting him from various dangers during his administration.
He said he also survived a plane crash in 2018 when one of the engines of the aircraft he was travelling in exploded shortly after take-off from Port Harcourt. He said he did not tell anyone about the incident.
Wike said he owed everything to God and that he would continue to serve Him and humanity. He also appreciated his family, friends and associates for their support and prayers.
