Politicians scamper for safety as police fire teargas at PDP HQ

There was chaos at the headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja on Tuesday as operatives of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) deployed teargas to break up altercations involving supporters of both factions.

The Nyesom Wike-backed faction, and the new national working committee (NWC) of the party led by Kabiru Turaki, had each scheduled meetings for the Wadata Plaza PDP headquarters on the same day.

Samuel Anyanwu, national secretary of the Wike bloc, arrived at the Wadata Plaza premises with members of his faction ahead of their planned board of trustees (BoT) and national executive committee (NEC) meetings.

Police had a hard time keeping the peace, with operatives at one time ordering all party members out of the premises.

Teargas canisters were thereafter deployed to disperse politicians and journalists alike as supporters of both factions clashed and brawled.

Some of the supporters outside the facility were seen wielding cudgels and sundry objects as they broke into protest songs.

‘SHOT BY POLICE’

Addressing journalists afterwards, Turaki, newly elected chairman of the PDP, said the party is facing an assault that threatens its survival and the nation’s democracy.

He said the party had come under attack from security operatives who, according to him, used force against members trying to access the headquarters.

He claimed that some PDP members who attempted to attend the meeting were “shot by the police”, adding that the incident showed how far institutions had deteriorated.

The PDP chair said the situation required urgent global attention, warning that “democracy in Nigeria is under severe threat”.

“Can you see that the minister of FCT (Wike) has been granted access — a person that has been expelled?” Turaki said.

“Some of our governors have been teargassed; some of our members who came here to attend a meeting that has been lawfully called have been teargassed.”

Turaki called on the international community to intervene, saying, “they should come and save democracy in Nigeria”.

“We will now be calling on the international community. I want to call on President Trump,” he said.

“What is at stake is not our genocide against Nigerian Christians. They should come and save democracy in Nigeria.

“Democracy is at stake. I’m calling on all other developed nations: come and save Nigeria, come and save democracy.”

He said the party will not be intimidated, noting that its members were prepared to defend their mandate.

“We are willing to lay down our lives to protect our office, to protect our democracy, to protect our mandate,” he added.

The PDP chair accused Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), of sponsoring thugs to disrupt activities at the party headquarters.

He also alleged that the police provided cover for persons behind the unrest.

Turaki said Nigerians are witnessing events that pose “a grave danger” to the political system, adding that the party would resist efforts to silence it.

The PDP — Nigeria’s biggest opposition party — has been mired in crisis for the better part of two years.

On Saturday, a faction of the party held a convention in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, amid conflicting court rulings.

At the Ibadan convention, Wike and his allies were expelled from the party.

However, the Wike group dismissed the convention as a charade and the expulsion as a joke.