Tension continues to heightened in Rivers state as indigenes woke up on Saturday to the news of a suspected explosion that rocked the secretariat of the All Progressives Congress, APC, headed by the factional caretaker committee chairman, CTC, Chief Tony Okocha. The incident reportedly destroyed buildings and other property at the building, located along Aba Road, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. It was reported that the gate of the secretariat and doors were shattered by the explosion. The incident occurred a few hours before the commencement of the local government elections taking place in the state.
Confirming the incident, the factional chairman, stated the attack was politically motivated. He also accused the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, of being behind the attack.
“About 3:20 am, some gun-trotting young men with their explosives and all that came here and dropped the first explosive, maybe because the one they dropped here did not detonate, they came back the second time to burn the structure—look at the security house is gone.
“Behind me, you will see that there was also an attempt, our people came, and we were able to quench the fire,” Mr Okocha said.
“Is APC secretariat here any voting unit? There is no voting unit here. So, it was deliberate to see how they can annihilate us, it is deliberate to see how they can embarrass us, it is deliberate to see how they can decimate us,” Mr. Okocha said.
Okocha’s APC had announced its withdrawal from today’s local government election citing legal reasons. It is not clear what message the suspected arsonist intended to pass across by detonating the suspected dynamite.
Earlier, there was a court order restraining the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and other security agencies from providing security during the poll.
However, the Rivers governor insisted that the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) will conduct the LGA election and that the court order did not stop the conduct of the election.
