APC Accuse PDP Of Using Thugs To Disrupt Voters Registeration In Rivers

The APC has deplored the alleged attacks on its members in Rivers State “by hoodlums aimed at disrupting the party's ongoing membership registration in the state” describing it as “a shot to the heart of democracy and a breach of the country's constitution”.

The party claimed the alleged attacks must have been masterminded by the “Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI) and the PDP in Rivers, which is desperate to cover up the glaring rejection of the PDP by the people of the state”.
In a statement issued yesterday by its interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party, warned: “The deadly attacks are capable of hindering people’s participation in the democracy, thereby violating the fundamental rights of the affected citizens.

“People's participation is at the core of democracy, while the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees the right of citizens to associate with any party of their choice.

“We have no doubt that these attacks, during which at least one person has been shot dead, would not have been possible without the collusion of the police. Therefore, we appeal to the incoming Commissioner of Police in Rivers to stop the Mbu-era misuse of the police as the enforcement arm of the PDP in the state.”

Detailing some of the attacks by “armed and sponsored hoodlums” in Rivers State, APC said the worst was in Degema, where one Andy was shot dead while six APC supporters suffered bullet wounds.

It claimed further that the party’s Supervisory Committee Chairman for Degema, Ben Orugbani, escaped death “when his house was shattered with bullets in the old Bakana”.

It said there were also attacks in Phalga Wards 11, 14 and 16, where one Vandam and Noso “led 50 other hoodlums to shoot sporadically and hijack the registration materials, handsets and cameras”.

It claimed further: “In Ward 9 in Obio/Akpor, hoodlums were hired to beat up registration officers and hijack registration materials; and Ward 6 in Woji where Chief Timothy Nsirm led 30 hoodlums who manhandled our supporters and shot one of them, Chibuchi Ogbonda who is now battling with his life in hospital.”

Also commenting on the alleged disruption of the APC membership registration exercise, Senator Magnus Abe, who represents Rivers South-East in the National Assembly, said it was “mayhem and violence being unleashed on the innocent who came out in their thousands to register with the APC”.

In a statement, the Senator blamed the PDP and GDI “for hiring armed thugs to attack unarmed citizens from wards and communities across the state participating in the APC nationwide membership registration exercise”.