Soldiers deployed in Rivers Assemby

Pro and anti-Amaechi supporters being contained by riot policemen in Port Harcourt... on Wednesday

 

TROOPS from the Joint Task Force  were deployed  in   Rivers State House of Assembly on Wednesday to prevent a bloody clash between supporters of Governor  Rotimi Amaechi and those of the Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike,  in Port Harcourt.

Both groups, comprising mainly youths and those believed to be ex-militants, had gathered at the  Assembly at about 7.30am to witness the sitting of the lawmakers and to know  who would be recognised as the Speaker.

Policemen on the ground at Assembly  watched as the youthS argued on the disagreement between the governor and Wike, but a team of JTF operatives, who came in four Hilux vehicles, dispersed them within 10 minutes.

The soldiers fired    tear-gas  canisters,  forcing some  of the protesting youths  to  relocate to the front of the Government House.

An ex-militant, who was among the youths  was arrested by the  riot policemen and taken to the Swift Operation Squad, ostensibly for interrogation. An identification card with an  inscription ‘Amnesty’ was found in his pocket.

One of the pro-Wike youths, Kennedy Mbiere, who spoke with The  PUNCH, said they were not happy with the way the state government  disrupted the process of  inuagurating  Mr. Evans Bipi as the new  speaker of the Assembly on Tuesday.

Mbiere  said they were at the Assembly complex  to show solidarity with  Bipi,  arguing   that the governor should not have been there (Assembly)   on Tuesday to prevent an elected Bipi from being  inaugurated.

Also, a pro-Amaechi supporter, who identified himself as Tonye, lamented the interference of Abuja politicians in the affairs of the state.

  “In a democracy, is it possible for five members to impeach the Speaker  of a state House of Assembly  with  32 members? We will not allow that. We are prepared to die than allow that to happen in Rivers State, ” Tonye  said.

•  Police fire tear-gas canisters

Some of the  youths numbering over 1, 000   had moved to the Government House from the   Assembly at about 12.30pm to show solidarity with  Amaechi but they were teargassed by policemen.

Some  scampered for safety at nearby kiosks and houses while others   ran into the Government House where they were later addressed by  Deputy Governor, Mr. Tele Ikuru.

The State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, accused the police of  firing teargas canisters  into the Government House, describing the action  as unfortunate.

Semenitari expressed surprise that teargas canisters  could be fired into a Government House in a democracy, thereby disrupting  business  even in the Executive chambers.

•  Protest ban still in Place-CP

Earlier, the  Commissioner of Police, Mr.  Joseph Mbu, warned that the ban on any form of protests and processions was still in place.

Mbu, who spoke through the   Police Public relations Officer of the State Police Command, Mrs. Angela Agabe, restated that the police  would not tolerate a situation whereby any person would embark on a protest without seeking approval.

Meanwhile, the  Assembly has described as false,  the allegation that  Mr. Otelemaba Amachree  had been impeached as its  Speaker.

A statement  by 26 out of the 32 members of the Assembly on Wednesday read, “We state for the benefit of the public that no such situation existed on the floor of the Assembly on  July 9 , 2013. These are mere machinations of the five members desperate to do their masters bidding.

 “The purported claim by a member of the Assembly,    Bipi, to be the new speaker of the state Assembly is false and a hallucinations of the most debased form. We urge members of the public and the press to disregard such claims.”

•  ACN  calls for Jonathan’s impeachment

Meanwhile, the  Action Congress of Nigeria  has blamed President Goodluck Jonathan for the crisis in  the  state  and called on the  National Assembly to immediately commence impeachment proceedings against  him.

 The party, in a statement  by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, alleged that  Jonathan had failed to live up to his oath of office to uphold the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The ACN said, “Under his watch, five lawmakers – out of 32 – have become the majority and, simply because they have the backing of the Presidency, are now being given police protection to disrupt the proceedings of the Assembly.

“As we write, Rivers State has been taken over by current and former militants, who have been unleashed to destabilise the state and cause a breakdown of law and order, to pave the way for the imposition of a state of emergency.

‘’This cannot and must not be allowed to continue, hence our call on the National Assembly to move quickly to remove the source of the crisis.”

The ACN stated that because of the potential  to set the country on fire, it  was calling  on civil society groups, professional bodies and ordinary Nigerians to  defend the rule of law and the supremacy of the constitution.

 It recalled that under Jonathan’s watch and with his tacit support, a few lawmakers dictated to majority of the members of the Ogun State House of Assembly.

The party  stated that under  Jonathan’s watch, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum was sabotaged by his minions who declared a governor with 16 votes a winner over the one who scored 19 votes.

It said that the five lawmakers were emboldened to take extra-constitutional measures to try to remove the majority-backed speaker of the   Assembly.

•  Count President out of Crisis- Gulak

However, the Presidency has enjoined opposition parties and others who believe that  Jonathan was the unseen hand in the Rivers State brouhaha to discountenance such idea.

The Presidency gave the advice through two of Jonathan’s aides – Dr. Ahmed Gulak  and Dr. Okupe – in separate interviews with  our correspondents in Abuja.

Gulak, who is the President’s Special Adviser   on Political Matters,  said  Amaechi should learn to face his problem and  face the   Assembly problem  squarely without dragging the   President into it.

•  Amaechi too small, says Okupe

 On his part, Okupe, who is the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, said Jonathan could not have engineered the Rivers crisis  because Amaechi was too small for him to fight.

He said, “The President has no hand in what is happening in the state. The President is not fighting Amaechi. He (the governor) is too small an entity for the President to fight.

“That (fight) has not happened; it cannot happen and it will not happen. What is going on in the state is the reaction of the people and maybe they are not happy  because of his disposition to the President or the Presidency or his party (the Peoples Democratic Party).”

On  ACN’s  call for impeachment, Okupe described it as “another condemnable, extremist and fundamentally flawed position by the opposition party.”

Okupe added, “For the avoidance of doubt and at the risk of repetitiveness, we wish to state categorically that in spite of what the ACN will want the Nigerian people to believe, President   Jonathan is absolutely unconnected and definitely not involved in the political crisis that seemed to have engulfed Rivers State in recent times.

“The President is not, has not and will never engineer any act that can cause disaffection between Governor  Amaechi or any other governor and the state legislature or any other institution of government.”

Also, the leadership of the PDP  condemned   the ACN’s  claim  and asked lovers of democracy to discountenance it.

PDP Acting National Publicity Secretary,   Tony Okeke, described the ACN statement  as “malicious and the height of political irresponsibility”.

The ruling party accused the opposition of seeking to aggravate the situation in Rivers State for selfish reasons