Reactions trail alleged attack on Abe

THE polity was awash with ill-feelings over the shooting of Senator Magnus Abe at the Save Rivers Movement rally in Obio/Akpor Local Council of Rivers State, yesterday.

Deploring the police disruption of the rally and the shooting of Abe, the Rivers State Government, said Governor Amaechi and not Abe was the target of the police.

Reacting to the incident, the All Progressives Congress (APC) urged President Goodluck Jonathan to “urgently put an end to the worsening reign of impunity in Rivers State, which is being carried out under his watch by those who are obviously acting to impress him and the First Lady.”

The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Dakuku Peterside, said the police in Rivers State had taken impunity to new heights and urged all men of goodwill must rise up to defend constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of association and freedom of movement.

Senator Abe receiving first aid treatment in Port Harcourt

However, the Senate yesterday, said it would not comment on the incident because the development had not got to it.

Senate spokesman, Enyinnaya Abaribe (PDP, Abia South), told Vanguard in a telephone interview that since the alleged action had not reached the upper legislative chamber, it would not be proper to comment on the issue.

“As I am talking to you now, the Senate is not aware of what you are talking about and so I can’t make any pronouncement on the issue now,” he said.

Ubani, Ogunade speak
Two rights activists,  Monday Ubani and Wale Ogunade said the shooting of Senator Abe portended a grave danger for Nigeria’s polity, if such developments were not checked.

Ubani who also is the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Ikeja branch said: “Senator Abe has been a strong supporter of the state governor, Rotimi Amaechi, so I am not surprised about that. But then it also introduces a more serious dimension to this crisis in Rivers State. Again, it also brings to mind the allegation that some people have become targets and are placed on watchlist. I hope these allegations are not gradually becoming a reality”

Ogunade, a Lagos-based lawyer and President, Voters Awareness Initiative (VAI), said “the police in Rivers State have been crying more than the bereaved ever since the political crisis began in Rivers State.  The way the police have been going about their activities in Rivers State shows that they are the PDP itself. They are crying more than the bereaved.”

Abe received bullets meant for Amaechi — Rivers Govt

In a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Mrs Ibim Semenitari, the Rivers State Government decried what it termed as “another senseless attack on innocent citizens in a continuous rape of democracy by the Joseph Mbu-led Rivers State police command,” which she said Governor Amaechi was the target.

Stating that “the unprovoked shooting of Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, is cause for worry and an indication of the length that the PDP is willing to go to silence opposing views,” Ibim said: “The Rivers State Government has it on good authority that Senator Abe took the bullet originally meant for Governor Chibuike Amaechi who was billed to be present at the event. This is disconcerting especially in the light of recent revelations that the presidency may be training snipers ahead of the 2015 elections and that Governor Amaechi is top on the list of those to be eliminated. In their bid to destroy, the Mbu led police thought nothing of harming innocent children. Five children are at present feared to be battling for their lives as a result of the impact from the tear gas fumes.

She continued: “The Rivers State Government wishes to request the Federal Government and its agencies to respect the rules of democratic engagement in their misguided fight against the people of Rivers State and especially save our nation from the unnecessary chaos into which federal agents like Mbu want to plunge it ahead of the 2015 elections.

“The Rivers State Government therefore reiterates its call for the re deployment of CP Mbu from Rivers State before he turns the state into a graveyard…”

Stop reign of impunity in Rivers – APC urges Jonathan

Also reacting, the APC, in a statement issued in Lagos by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the call on Jonathan had become even more imperative, “following the irresponsible act of brigandage by the police” at  the Save Rivers Movement (SRM) rally.

Berating the police for their conduct at the event, the party said: ‘’We understand that the exceptional brutal clampdown on the planned rally by the police, who seem to have now surpassed even their own act of brutality against the people of the state, was aimed at impressing the First Lady, believed to be due in Port Harcourt on the same day (Sunday),’’ it said.

The APC said there was no way a Commissioner of Police in any state will be so bold as to be waging a war against an elected Governor and his aides/supporters if he is not empowered to do so by higher authorities.