Rivers’ APC calls for international investigation of endless violent acts against members

The United Nations and other relevant international bodies may step into the deepening political crisis and acts of violence in Rivers State, if the distress call by the state’s chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) gets positive attention. At a world press conference held in Port Harcourt, APC catalogued all the cases of attack, bombing, arrest and detention of its members and laid the blame at the doorsteps of the rival People’s Democratic Party (PDP). The 10-page petition read by Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, the state chairman, demanded for immediate inquiry by the inter- national bodies so mentioned into the cases of killing, unlawful arrests without charges, and other forms of attacks.
The party also appealed the international bodies to send powerful election monitoring teams to Rivers State, fearing that there may be more acts of violence during the elections in the state. Ikanya suspected that the reasons behind the ceaseless attacks must be to discourage people from coming out to vote for candidates of their choice, now that they said the PDP was becoming sure that it would lose the elections in the state. The matter is so sad that the senator, Magnus Abe, who sustained life threatening injuries at a rally incident last year during the ‘rubber bullet’ saga poured lamentation, saying, “Today, you can be killed for being an APC member. Nigerians do not seem to know this. Please talk to our killers to please remember that the Constitution of the Federal Republic gives us a right to join any political party. This should not attract death”. In his full presentation, the APC boss reminded Nigerians that Rivers State was the hub of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry with a state domestic product (SDP) of $21,300, adding that mass revolt in such a state would worsen the situation in the already troubled country. “Now, Rivers State is a war zone. Masked men are now on the rampage, killing and maiming”. He said it was clear the PDP does not want the APC to even contest the upcoming elections in the state because even to hold meetings would attract attacks, bombing, and mayhem. “There is a grand plan to put the APC leaders out of circulation”. The party mentioned some of the bizarre attacks on its members as the attack on supporters conveyed in buses coming to their presidential rally in Port Harcourt; attacks on members in Gokana, bomb attacks in Okrika, Andoni, etc. The boss said the party’s billboards are never al- lowed to stand for a day, while many of its members have been detained illegally. Meanwhile, several civil society organisations and groups have been holding meetings to find solution to the deepening violence in the state. The US has taken deep interest in what is happening in the state, even getting principal personalities to sign an undertaking for peace, but more violence has rather responded to the moves.