BY Taiwo George
Rotimi Amaechi, governor of Rivers state, has accused Patience Jonathan, wife of Nigeria’s president and Nyesom Wike, the PDP gubernatorial candidate in the state, of instigating the attack on supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Okrika on Tuesday.
The governorship campaign rally of APC scheduled for National Secondary School, Okrika, was disrupted as gunshots and explosives rocked the air.
Security personnel had to rescue Dakuku Peterside, APC gubernatorial candidate in Rivers, out of the venue, as many scuttled to safety.
Speaking with journalists at the Shehu Yar’Adua centre in Abuja after a meeting with APC leaders still on Tuesday, Amaechi expressed disappointment with the inability of law enforcement agents to ensure a hitch-free campaign for his party.
“Clearly, the wife of the president does not want APC to campaign in Okrika, her local government area,” he said.
“The wife of the president and the governorship candidate of Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers again organised thugs to disrupt APC rally. As usual, the police couldn’t protect us, over 200 police men.
“I asked the commissioner of police and he said they had over 200 policemen there. Yet, three explosions and then they opened fire on members of APC. The Channels TV reporter I hear, is injured, stabbed, and members of APC injured.
“We had meetings with DSS (Directorate of State Security) and police and they confirmed we could go ahead. There were 200 policemen and there were over 20 to 30 DSS men who came there and they did nothing.”
When asked if election could take place in the state as a result of the frequent rate of violence, Amaechi said only President Goodluck Jonathan could respond to that.
“You should ask the president, it’s not me you should be asking,” he said.
“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 and Adamawa and Yobe, he can’t go ahead with election, then where is he going ahead with election when the whole of Rivers state is being invaded by PDP and PDP thugs and security men are watching and doing nothing?”
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