AS VIOLENCE ROCKS RERUN POLLS: SOLDIERS NAB RIVERS SSG
By Victor Edozie, Port Harcourt | Publish Date: Mar 20 2016 5:00AM- (1 Likes)
image: http://cms.dailytrust.com.ng/cms/gall_content/2016/3/2016_3$largeimg119_Mar_2016_234325427.jpg
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State casts his vote at Unit 7 Ward 9 at Obio/Akpo L.G.A during the national and state assemblies re-run election in Rivers State yesterday. On the right is an APC agent, Ndamati, who was stabbed in Port Harcourt. Photos: NAN/ Victor Edozie
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State casts his vote at Unit 7 Ward 9 at Obio/Akpo L.G.A during the national and state assemblies re-run election in Rivers State yesterday. On the right is an APC agent, Ndamati, who was stabbed in Port Harcourt. Photos: NAN/ Victor Edozie
.2 Killed in Asari-Torlu, Tia Councils
.Wike’s Aide Arrested ‘With Military Uniforms’
.State‘s Water Commissioner Abducted by Gunmen
.INEC Suspends Elections in Four LGAs
The Secretary to the Government of
Rivers State, Mr Kenneth Kobani, was yesterday arrested by the Nigerian
Army personnel at Gokana, in Gokana Local Government Area of the state.
The military did not give reasons for the arrest of the top state government official. The Commander of 2 Brigade of the Nigerian Army in Port Harcourt, Brig-Gen Stevenson Olagunji, declined comment on the matter. He said the Army would brief journalists on the outcome of the rerun elections on Sunday.
But an Army source, who did not want to be named, said the SSG was arrested for violating the electoral law by moving outside his electoral unit and intimidating residents, while election was in progress.
The source said that the government official was picked because “nobody is above the law,” adding that the “law says that nobody should move around during election. He violated the law by moving around during the election and intimidating residents. That is reason why he was arrested.”
However, the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) reacted to the arrest of the SSG, describing it as a contravention of a court order that barred Nigerian Army from deploying its men during the elections.
The party, in a press statement by its chairman, Felix Obuah, said the troops invaded Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) centres in Gokana and Khana local government areas to effect the arrest Kobani and others.
“The Secretary to the State Government, Hon Kenneth Kobani; Special Adviser on Special Projects to the State Governor, Hon Cyril Dum Wite and over 2000 PDP across the state have been beaten, arrested and detained by the Nigerian Army drafted to conduct the election by Mr Rotimi Amaechi, Magnus Abe and the APC.
“The Nigerian Army disobeyed two separate court orders restraining them from participating in the Rivers re-run elections and in the Rivers South East Senatorial District of the state. All electoral materials for the Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State have been hijacked by Barry Mpigi, assisted by the soldiers. Attempts by voters to resist the hijack of the election materials led to the killing of two pregnant women and scores of people by armed men in military uniform,” he stated.
The PDP chairman called on INEC to cancel elections in Tai, Oyigbo, Gokana, Khana and all other local government areas of the state where there were cases of violence.
But the Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has absolved itself of allegations of masterminding the arrest of Kobani. The party, in a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the party chairman on Media, Eze Chukwuemeka, said Kobani was arrested for being lawless. He said Kobani was arrested by the law enforcement agents for moving around during the election.
Sources, however, disclosed that the SSG was subsequently handed over to the police.
In a related development, the Special Adviser to Governor Nyesom Wike on Special Projects, Cyril Dum Wite, was arrested in Khana for allegedly being in procession of military uniforms. The governor’s aide was paraded alongside four other men in military uniforms, before he was taken into police custody.
The Rivers State police command Public Relations Officer, Ahmad Muhammad, could not be reached for comment at the time of filing this report.
Also, the Rivers State Commissioner for Water Resources, Walter Ibibia, was abducted at his Akasa village by unknown gunmen. His whereabouts were still unknown at the time of going to press.
Meanwhile, INEC has suspended elections in four local government areas of Andoni, Abua/Odua, Gokana and Bonny.
The elections, according to INEC’s Public Relations Officer in Rivers State, Tonia Wobo, were suspended as a result of violence that characterized the polls in the areas.
Violence and general apathy marred national and state assemblies rerun elections across the state. At Abalama in Asari-Torlu Local Government Area, an unconfirmed report indicated that one person was killed. Also, political thugs purportedly working for a political party threw dynamite at a polling unit in Gokana axis of Ogoni land, it was gathered.
At Nowa, in Tia Local Government Area, a middle-aged man, whose name was given as Tambari, was shot dead by yet-to-be-identified gunmen.
Similarly, at Rumudumoya in the Obio Akpor Local Government Area of the state, an APC agent, Theophilous Ndamati, was stabbed in the chest by a man believed to be a PDP agent. Eye witnesses said trouble started when Ndamati was asked to leave the polling unit. He was reportedly stabbed in the chest with a broken bottle when he refused to comply with the directive.
In Elele and Eleme parts of the state, both supporters of the PDP and APC engaged themselves in a gun duel over electoral materials. The situation was brought under control by the Army.
PDP members in Ubima, Ikwerre Local Government Area of the state accused APC supporters of stopping them from casting their votes.
There were reported cases of ballot snatching, as well as alleged circulation of fake electoral materials.
Gov. Wike, said that INEC was not prepared for the re-run elections in the state, adding that the challenges that greeted the elections would have been avoided if the Commission had prepared for the re-run elections.
He regretted that some areas in the state did not have result sheets, which could lead to violence as the people could suspect foul play.
The governor, who spoke at Ward 9 Unit 7 in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area after casting his vote, said information available to him indicated that INEC had failed to take the necessary measures to ensure credible polls.
“It is obvious that INEC was not prepared for the re-run elections. They refused to tell members of the public the challenges they had,” he said.
The accreditation process for the governor was cumbersome, as two card readers were used severally before he was eventually cleared to vote. However, his wife, Justice Suzzette Nyesom-Wike, was accredited smoothly.
The governor told journalists that in many polling units, information of scanned results were received.
He added that there were cases of snatching of election materials in Ubima and Omagwa, noting that it was unfortunate that the challenges came up despite the time INEC took to prepare.
He, however, gave a pass mark to the security agencies for maintaining law and order in the state.
The military did not give reasons for the arrest of the top state government official. The Commander of 2 Brigade of the Nigerian Army in Port Harcourt, Brig-Gen Stevenson Olagunji, declined comment on the matter. He said the Army would brief journalists on the outcome of the rerun elections on Sunday.
But an Army source, who did not want to be named, said the SSG was arrested for violating the electoral law by moving outside his electoral unit and intimidating residents, while election was in progress.
The source said that the government official was picked because “nobody is above the law,” adding that the “law says that nobody should move around during election. He violated the law by moving around during the election and intimidating residents. That is reason why he was arrested.”
However, the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) reacted to the arrest of the SSG, describing it as a contravention of a court order that barred Nigerian Army from deploying its men during the elections.
The party, in a press statement by its chairman, Felix Obuah, said the troops invaded Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) centres in Gokana and Khana local government areas to effect the arrest Kobani and others.
“The Secretary to the State Government, Hon Kenneth Kobani; Special Adviser on Special Projects to the State Governor, Hon Cyril Dum Wite and over 2000 PDP across the state have been beaten, arrested and detained by the Nigerian Army drafted to conduct the election by Mr Rotimi Amaechi, Magnus Abe and the APC.
“The Nigerian Army disobeyed two separate court orders restraining them from participating in the Rivers re-run elections and in the Rivers South East Senatorial District of the state. All electoral materials for the Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State have been hijacked by Barry Mpigi, assisted by the soldiers. Attempts by voters to resist the hijack of the election materials led to the killing of two pregnant women and scores of people by armed men in military uniform,” he stated.
The PDP chairman called on INEC to cancel elections in Tai, Oyigbo, Gokana, Khana and all other local government areas of the state where there were cases of violence.
But the Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has absolved itself of allegations of masterminding the arrest of Kobani. The party, in a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the party chairman on Media, Eze Chukwuemeka, said Kobani was arrested for being lawless. He said Kobani was arrested by the law enforcement agents for moving around during the election.
Sources, however, disclosed that the SSG was subsequently handed over to the police.
In a related development, the Special Adviser to Governor Nyesom Wike on Special Projects, Cyril Dum Wite, was arrested in Khana for allegedly being in procession of military uniforms. The governor’s aide was paraded alongside four other men in military uniforms, before he was taken into police custody.
The Rivers State police command Public Relations Officer, Ahmad Muhammad, could not be reached for comment at the time of filing this report.
Also, the Rivers State Commissioner for Water Resources, Walter Ibibia, was abducted at his Akasa village by unknown gunmen. His whereabouts were still unknown at the time of going to press.
Meanwhile, INEC has suspended elections in four local government areas of Andoni, Abua/Odua, Gokana and Bonny.
The elections, according to INEC’s Public Relations Officer in Rivers State, Tonia Wobo, were suspended as a result of violence that characterized the polls in the areas.
Violence and general apathy marred national and state assemblies rerun elections across the state. At Abalama in Asari-Torlu Local Government Area, an unconfirmed report indicated that one person was killed. Also, political thugs purportedly working for a political party threw dynamite at a polling unit in Gokana axis of Ogoni land, it was gathered.
At Nowa, in Tia Local Government Area, a middle-aged man, whose name was given as Tambari, was shot dead by yet-to-be-identified gunmen.
Similarly, at Rumudumoya in the Obio Akpor Local Government Area of the state, an APC agent, Theophilous Ndamati, was stabbed in the chest by a man believed to be a PDP agent. Eye witnesses said trouble started when Ndamati was asked to leave the polling unit. He was reportedly stabbed in the chest with a broken bottle when he refused to comply with the directive.
In Elele and Eleme parts of the state, both supporters of the PDP and APC engaged themselves in a gun duel over electoral materials. The situation was brought under control by the Army.
PDP members in Ubima, Ikwerre Local Government Area of the state accused APC supporters of stopping them from casting their votes.
There were reported cases of ballot snatching, as well as alleged circulation of fake electoral materials.
Gov. Wike, said that INEC was not prepared for the re-run elections in the state, adding that the challenges that greeted the elections would have been avoided if the Commission had prepared for the re-run elections.
He regretted that some areas in the state did not have result sheets, which could lead to violence as the people could suspect foul play.
The governor, who spoke at Ward 9 Unit 7 in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area after casting his vote, said information available to him indicated that INEC had failed to take the necessary measures to ensure credible polls.
“It is obvious that INEC was not prepared for the re-run elections. They refused to tell members of the public the challenges they had,” he said.
The accreditation process for the governor was cumbersome, as two card readers were used severally before he was eventually cleared to vote. However, his wife, Justice Suzzette Nyesom-Wike, was accredited smoothly.
The governor told journalists that in many polling units, information of scanned results were received.
He added that there were cases of snatching of election materials in Ubima and Omagwa, noting that it was unfortunate that the challenges came up despite the time INEC took to prepare.
He, however, gave a pass mark to the security agencies for maintaining law and order in the state.
Read more at http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/general/as-violence-rocks-rerun-polls-soldiers-nab-rivers-ssg/138635.html#hulLlyzoASRwsT4Q.99
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