Rivers turns battlefield

• Pro, anti-Amaechi supporters clash
•Police, soldiers take over strategic areas

The violence that erupted in Rivers State House of Assembly on Tuesday, when lawmakers engaged in fisticuff, expanded yesterday, as supporters and opposition to Governor Chibuike Amaechi clashed in front of the Assembly complex and other areas in Port Harcourt. Read more

As early as 5.30a.m., hundreds of supporters of the five lawmakers, who attempted to remove the House Speaker, Otelemaba Dan-Amachree, had started gathering on Moscow Road, Port Harcourt, in front of the Assembly complex. By 7. 30 a.m, a section of the road had been taken over, as the supporters tried to occupy the complex, to pave way for anti-Amaechi lawmakers to have access to the chambers and sit at 8a.m, with Evans Bipi presiding.

The protesters, who openly brandished dangerous weapons, chanted anti-Amaechi slogan, with some of them shooting into the air.

Daily Sun gathered that pro-Amaechi supporters had mobilised and stormed the assembly complex to stop the lawmakers opposed to the governor from sitting.

The group arrived in about 50 buses and dislodged the anti-Amaechi supporters.

While the confrontation raged in front of the complex, policemen intervened, ordering everybody, including staff of the assembly, to vacate the premises, before locking the gate. A detachment of armed soldiers had also arrived, to disperse people from the area.

Following the clashes, the state secretariat near Government House was deserted yesterday, as workers could not get access to their offices. Those who managed to get in were holed in until security operatives ordered everybody out.

Having been dislodged from the gate of the Assembly complex, the anti-Amaechi group relocated to the Aggrey and Agip areas of Port Harcourt, where they barricaded roads.

Battle later shifted to the city centres, as supporters of the two groups fought in front of the Rivers State Government House and Azikiwe Road area, before security men arrived, firing gunshots and teargas canisters into the air, to disperse them.

At the time of filing the report, there was tension in Port Harcourt, as policemen took over strategic locations in the city.  Also, police vehicles patrolled the city, while Amoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) were stationed at strategic areas. Security at the Government House was also beefed up.

Road users, who intended to pass through Azikiwe Road, to Lagos, or into town, were stranded yesterday, following the clashes in the area.  In the absence of vehicles to convey them to their destination, most city dwellers in the area resorted to trekking, with their hands raised, as ordered by the police. Addressing newsmen in Port Harcourt yesterday, Bipi said he still remained the Speaker of  the assembly.

Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mrs. Angela Agabe, told newsmen, in Port Harcourt that the Clerk of the House of Assembly wrote a letter to the commissioner of police informing him that members of the House of Assembly would convene yesterday. She, however, did not disclose   the group that wrote the letter to the CP.

Reacting to the clashes, the state’s police commissioner, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu, said the ban on public procession was still in force. A press statement issued in Port Harcourt yesterday said: “The attention of Commissioner of Police, Rivers State, has been drawn to the statement made by the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, on public procession in the state. “The commissioner of police hereby wishes to remind the general public that the ban on public procession is still in force, that minimum force will be used to disperse anybody or group of persons, no matter how highly placed.”

He urged members of the public to cooperate with the police, adding that security was the collective responsibility of all. “Cooperate with the Nigeria Police, as we are out to protect the life and property of all citizenry, please,” he said.

In a related development, checks revealed that Michael Chinda, representing Obio/Akpor Constituency II, was still lying critically in the hospital, following injuries he sustained on his head, in the scuffle with Chidi Lloyd. Lloyd, on his part, was also receiving treatment in a government hospital.

Culled from The Sun newspaper