I just received gruesome photos of dead men and a press
statement from the APC in Rivers state. Looks like election in some areas in
the state was very violent. Read statement below and see the pics after the
cut.. *viewer discretion advised*
Today’s presidential and National Assembly elections have
turned out to be a big nightmare for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in
Rivers State, with the members being killed, attacked and disenfranchised in
various parts of the State.
“Armed militias working for the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) have intensified their killing of APC members. Scores
have already been killed and several others marked for elimination. This
morning in Kpite Town, Tai Ward 2 and other areas of the State, five people
were shot dead by PDP’s armed militia, and that was before accreditation
commenced,” Rivers APC Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, said in a statement
in Port Harcourt. Pictures of our killed members are attached.
Lamenting his party’s ordeal, Ikanya said: “It is sad that
PDP and its collaborators are targeting APC strongholds and chieftains for
attacks and killings. To intimidate our people and contrary to the court ruling
forbidding the use of the Army in this election, there has been a massive
deployment of soldiers in the State with clear instruction to shoot at sight
any APC agent that refuses to comply with the evil plot of PDP to write the
results of the election at some designated areas of the State in favour of
PDP.”
Chief Ikanya gave the following specific horrifying examples
of APC’s travails:
•Hon. Chidiebere Okwuwolu, former Commissioner and currently
an APC leader, was arrested by police and taken to Olu Obasanjo Police Station
in Port Harcourt along with 99 other arrested APC members scattered in various
Police Stations in the State.
•At Ubima, the home town of Governor Chibuike Amaechi, the INEC results sheets
are currently with Chief Nyesome Wike, the guber candidate of PDP in Rivers
State. Governor Amaechi has refused to embark upon any accreditation because of
lack of result sheets in all the polling units in the State, a situation
contrived by INEC and PDP to make room for PDP to rig the election.
•At Andoni, the Local Government Area of Rivers State APC Chairman, Dr. Davies
Ibiamu Ikanya, and Chief Uche Secondus, the National Vice Chairman of PDP and
his cousin, Engr Tele Ikuru (the Deputy Governor of Rivers State who few days
defected to PDP) hell has been let loose; electoral materials have been
hijacked by PDP agents in connivance with the Army that has been threatening to
arrest and kill any APC chieftains in sight.
•The Caretaker Committee Chairman of Andoni Local Government
area, Esuku Esuku, has been ordered out of Ngo, headquarters of Local
Government, by the Joint Task Force (JTF)/army personnel deployed to Ngo, or be
killed. •At Abonnema, headquarters of Akuku-Toru Local Government,
materials are being distributed from the house of Minister of Sports, Chief
Tammy Danagogo, instead of the INEC office, without any security personnel.
Danagogo has held the policemen that ought to escort these materials to the
polling units hostage and injuring DPO of Abonnema, Mr. Joseph Kayode for
daring to accompany Hon Isobo Jack the Commissioner for Urban Development to
the Polling Unit, relevant pictures attached.
•PDP thugs hijacked materials and INEC personnel meant for Akuku-Toru Wards 15,
16 and 17. The hijacked materials and men were taken to Freetown, a hinterland
coastal community. The attack was led by two youths whose identities are
known. •In Tombia, in same Akuku-Toru Local Government, PDP had by Friday night
filled the community with Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) bouncers who were attacking
APC members and, at the same time, preventing those returning home to vote from
entering the town. They were doing so in the presence of soldiers who were too
few in number. The Caretaker Committer Chairman and others were injured on
Friday. The over 30 APC members that were to act as agents were arrested. •In
Buguma, which is the Headquarters of Asari-Toru Local government, policemen
were busy all day arresting APC chieftains. •In Gokana Local Government,
trained INEC ad-hoc personnel were replaced with untrained manpower suspected
to be PDP members. This is believed to have been done in connivance with the
LGA Electoral Officer (EO).
•At Opobo/Nkoro, the Local Government Area of Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside, the
gubernatorial candidate of APC, the house of Opobo/Nkoro Caretaker Committee
Chairman, Loveday Jaja, was torched after he escaped to avoid being killed by
the PDP hoodlums. Electoral materials meant for the Local Government Area have
been diverted to John Africa/Ada Tom Pepple Compound area where they are
thumb-printing in favour of PDP. One Barrister J.B Pepple was caught with
stained thumbs and he admitted to thumb-printing. Another person Alafagha
Oko-Jaja had his head broken head and he is seriously bleeding. No one is sure
if he will survive. The army has been going around the community harassing
people while Chiefs in Kalaibiama are compelling them to vote for President
Goodluck Jonathan of PDP. This is said to be on the orders of Chief of Army
Staff, Major-General Kenneth Minimah, who is also from the town.
Mr. Harold Peterside a PDP Agent in Unit 006 Ward,
Oopbo/Nkoro was caught with INEC Register and fake Results Sheet at the Polling
Unit.
•At Oyigbo LGA, 40,000 incident forms were being
given out at 6:30 a.m. but they stopped when the APC Agent
complained about it. He was however asked to leave the INEC office at
about 11:30 a.m. Already, 120,000 incident forms have been to Port
Harcourt LGA, 80,000 to Obio/Akpor and 50,000 to Ikwerre LGA. The
incident forms are one of the ways PDP plans to use to rig the elections around
the country, especially in the South South and South East.
•In Okrika, there was sudden change and appearance of fresh and inadequately
trained INEC ad-hoc staff who tried to persuade voters to undergo manual
accreditation, claiming that card readers assigned to Okrika LGA polling booths
were not working (even without trying them). In a few units where APC
supporters insisted on ‘No Card, No Accreditation’, the card readers
mysteriously began to work. But in majority of the places manual accreditation
is being undertaken. Also in Okrika, there is insufficient delivery of
electoral materials by INEC. Up till now no one, not even party agents, has
seen the original result collation sheets. The INEC officials claim it is not
everything that they must explain. Meanwhile, INEC delivered incident
forms far excess of the number of registered voters.
Meanwhile, PDP stalwarts are openly parading bundles of PVC cards in their
possession. Rowland Sekibo, accompanied by police and PDP thugs armed with
guns, are going around chasing away APC members from doing accreditation. They
had done so in wards 1, 7, 8, 9 and 2. They tore the tags of our agents, beat
them and chased them away, injuring scores of them.
“We condemn this brazen rape of democracy by PDP in
collaboration with INEC and the security agents. It is unacceptable as this is
not what democracy should be. PDP should allow Rivers people to vote without
guns pointed at their throats,” Dr. Ikanya said in the statement.
Dr Ikanya passed a vote of no confidence on the State Resident Electoral
Commissioner, Gesila Khan, declaring that she has failed woefully as she is
bent on carrying out her secret agreement with PDP to return victory to the
party at all cost. Whatever trash she will announce as the result of today’s
election is not acceptable to us and we ask for her immediate transfer and a
new date be set for a proper election in Rivers State than the sham and charade
that was calculated to rubbish INEC and democracy.
The pictures of our killed members are attached.
Long Live APC!
Long Live Rivers State!!
Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze,
SSA Media and Public Affairs to the State Chairman, APC
Rivers State.
tags: editorial, election, nigeria, 2015, victims, violence photos, pictures
