Rivers guber: Peterside, others escape death

•Scores injured at APC’s rescheduled rally

Many people, including journalists, yesterday escaped death by the whiskers, when some political thugs hauled dynamites at Okrika Grammar School venue of the rescheduled, two-time aborted rally of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Okrika Local Government Area.

However, over 56 persons were injuried. Also, at Press time, the APC gubernatorial candidate, Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside, said many members of the party could not be accounted for.

Securitymen, journalists, APC members/supporters were among those who were wounded. In fact, one of the policemen, who was shot by the trigger-happy political thugs was said to be in critical condition in one of the hospitals.

A policeman, was said to have died but police could not confirm this as efforts to reach the spokesman of the command, Mr. Ahmad Muhammad, through phone calls and text messages proved abortive.

Other victims, Daily Sun gathered, were also rushed to various hospitals. Many journalists were tortured and their personal belongings, including working tools destroyed. Vehicles were also burnt and the Public Address System and other equipment mounted for the political rally were destroyed by the thugs. Besides people who sustained gunshot wounds, others were injured as a result of stampede, while they were trying to flee to safety. Bullets were flying from everywhere, from the smoky guns of the political thugs.

The gunmen, who beat the tight security (about 200), made up of the police, Directorate of State Security (DSS), among others, were seen emerging from different directions and shooting sporadically into the air for about one hour. Earlier, the first dynamite was thrown into the Okrika Grammar School field at about 1:20pm as a warning signal to scare the gathering.

The sound of the explosion, however, attracted the attention of securitymen attached to Anti-Bomb Disposal Unit, Counter Terrorism Unit and other security operatives, who conducted a search in and around the school buildings.

The actual shooting, however, started at about 2:30pm and ended at about 3:30pm. The governorship campaign rally in Okrika, the hometown of the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, was rescheduled for yesterday, after some unknown political thugs earlier bombed APC campaign venues on January 11 and 24, 2015.

Reacting to the incident, Peterside expressed worry at the attack of APC members in Okrika. He alleged how one of the House of Assembly members, surrounded by over 50 policemen and was ordering the thugs to shoot.

In his reaction, Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, condemned the attack. Amaechi, who spoke to journalists at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja also expressed disappointment over law enforcement agents’ failure to ensure a hitch- free campaign for the APC, despite an earlier assurance and approval of the rally by the police.

Asked if Rivers State is safe for elections, he said, “You should ask the President, it’s not me you should be asking. If he is in Sambisa, if he is in Borno, fighting the 14 local government areas, like I said, there were crises in the Niger Delta in 2007, and there were elections. So, if the 14 local governments of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, he can’t go ahead with elections, then, where is he going ahead with elections when the whole of Rivers State is being invaded by PDP and PDP thugs and securitymen are watching and doing nothing.”

He called for a stop to the harassment of APC members and supporters in Okrika, stating that it would be unpleasant if other local government areas of the state take a cue from that situation.

But in a swift reaction, the Rivers State branch of the PDP said what happened in Okrika yesterday was a cult clash.

The party, through a statement by the Chairman, Media and Publicity Committee, Rivers State PDP Campaign Organisation Emma Okah, dissociated the party from the attack on APC members. He urged the security agents to investigate the incident and arrest the perpetrators.