The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the Governorship election in Rivers State, Tonye Cole, and the party's Chairman, Chief Emeka Beke, were reportedly attacked by suspected political thugs in Port Harcourt.
The attack happened as hundreds of supporters
of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) blocked access to the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) office on the Port Harcourt-Aba
expressway.
The reason for the APC officials' visit to
the INEC office was to collect the Certified True Copies (CTC) of the election
documents used in the recently concluded Governorship and State House of
Assembly elections in the state. INEC had requested the APC officials to come
to their office to collect the documents for the tribunal process.
However, when the APC officials arrived, they
were stopped by the PDP protesters who had blocked all access points to the
INEC office. The protesters demanded that the electoral umpire release CTC of
the documents of the election to them, insisting that they had won the election.
While the PDP protesters were still demanding
access to the documents, the APC officials arrived at the INEC office. The APC
officials were prevented from accessing the commission's office by the
protesters. Some of the youths started attacking the APC officials, and they
had to run away from the INEC facility.
The situation quickly escalated, and there
was heavy shooting as armed youths took over the area. The bandits who were
shooting sporadically in the air moved freely from the former of the Niger
Delta Development Commission (NDDC), opposite INEC, through the Polo Club, and
then into the Government Reserved Area.
Although no casualties have been recorded,
some cars reportedly owned by the APC chiefs were damaged. The situation is
currently under control, and security operatives have been deployed to the area
to ensure the safety of citizens and prevent any further escalation of the
violence.
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