The Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the party’s Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) in the state on Friday launched into a war of words after the PCC Director-General, Dr Abiye Sekibo said he escaped an attempt on his life by those he described as agents of the state government.
Sekibo, a former Minister of Transport, told reporters in Port Harcourt that gunmen dressed in police uniform opened fire on his vehicle – a Land Cruiser bulletproof SUV – at Rainbow Town in Port Harcourt, where he had gone to inspect the venue of a proposed rally of the party’s flag bearer, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. He said his car was riddled with bullets.
But he did not specify where exactly in Rainbow Town he was allegedly attacked.
The state Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Ogbonna Nwuke however said that Sekibo’s allegation was false.
Sekibo said he decided to go to Rainbow Town after he was informed on the phone that the equipment being set up at the site in preparation for the PDP presidential rally had been set on fire.
He said: “At about 11:30 pm to 12 midnight, I received a call and the caller said the equipment at the site that was being prepared for the PDP presidential rally was on fire.
“I decided to go there and see for myself. I left my house with three policemen. The location is Rainbow Town by Amadi-ama. As we approached the site, we saw a lineup of Police Hilux vehicles on the right side of the road and the policemen were looking at the fire.
“As we got close and about to tell my driver to stop so I could talk to the policemen, the next thing we saw was that those policemen who were watching the fire opened fire on my vehicle.
“I quickly told my driver to keep going and not stop again. We were shot from all sides as we were escaping.
“As they were firing guns at us, I looked at the Hilux vehicles, they were police Hilux vehicles attached to the Governor of Rivers State.
“They shot one of our front tyres, it became difficult for us to move. I had to ask the driver to clear by a filling station at Trans-Amadi and he cleared inside the petrol station. While we were there trying to figure out what happened and how to leave the area, behold, the five Hilux vehicles drove past us, heading in the direction of Ada-George”.
The former minister alleged that the Police were being used to carry out attacks on innocent citizens of the state and accused Governor Nyesom Wike of turning the state into a lawless environment.
He asked the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, and President Muhammadu Buhari to call Wike to order.
He added: “This is what our state has been reduced to. The site was being prepared. This Governor who said he was giving us the stadium to use cannot stand the site of another site being prepared for a campaign rally he does not want to hold.
“He sent policemen attached to him to go and destroy the equipment working at the site.
“As we speak now, he has barricaded the place with Government House police to ensure that media men do not get to the venue to video, record the burning equipment.
“He has used Government House Police, not the regular police, but Police attached to Rivers State Governor are the ones that are barricading the place.
“Wike wants anarchy in Rivers State. He and his supporters have attacked supporters of Atiku Abubakar in the state over and over. We have been complaining to law enforcement agencies. We have written to the police, and we have done everything we can.
“This time around, it is no longer thugs that did this; it is policemen attached to the governor going out at night to destroy equipment that is working at a site to ensure that Atiku/Okowa presidential campaign rally never holds in this state.”
He showed reporters a picture of the car riddled with bullets with one of the vehicle’s front tyres burnt.
However, Nwuke said that Sekibo’s allegation was an attempt to create an impression that his attackers were policemen attached to the Rivers State Government House.
He said that all evidence released by Sekibo showed that his claim of attack was false and required thorough police investigation.
He argued that the scaremongering was the reason Atiku’s campaigners rushed to the court to secure an order preventing security agencies from arresting them.
Nwuke said: “Sekibo was Secretary to Government in this state and he knows the way government operates. He knows that Government security is not involved in activities outside the protection of the governor.
“He claimed he went to a venue where they were supposed to hold a rally. That venue which he claims to be in Rainbow Town was not precisely defined. If you go around Rainbow Town you will find that there is no place where a normal rally can hold.
“Sekibo should tell Rivers people and the world where that venue he chose to go to in the middle of the night is. The Rivers State Government has released a stadium sought by them for use, but the same people have refused to use the stadium because they know they cannot attract the kind of crowd required to make a political statement here.
“So, they ran away from the offer that they have only to stage what looks like an attack.
“I have seen pictures of the said car. How did Sekibo escape from the venue with the front tyre completely shot down? If you look at the picture, you will know that it is a daytime shot; it was not a nighttime shot. It would have made sense if Sekibo had taken those pictures at night to buttress evidence that at night he was attacked in Rivers State.
“This is rascality, falsehood taken too far. I think as politicians, we all hold the responsibility to ensure that there is law and order, particularly now that we are headed toward an election. To raise tension on the basis of falsehood is ridiculous.
“Politicians should face the people with what they want to do instead of creating diversionary tactics and in doing so create tension among ordinary law-abiding citizens. I didn’t believe that Sekibo was attacked although we are waiting for the outcome of security investigations.
“It is strange to hear that a man heard according to him that the venue was on fire and he left his home knowing there could be a danger to go and find out what happened to the venue. You said you saw people who were armed from afar and you assumed that those vehicles according to you came from the Government.
“You can see a person trying to put together a tissue of lies just to make an impression. It is possible that they really did not want to hold a rally here in Rivers. If they had given them money to hold the rally but they don’t want to hold it, it is their business. But there is a limit to falsehood”.
Besides, Nwuke said that Wike had invested heavily in security architecture to secure the state and could not at the same time be creating an atmosphere of insecurity.
Nwuke said that with the performance of the governor in the state, the state PDP required absolute peace to hold the forthcoming election because it was certain the people would follow the direction of the governor.
He said those posing as Atiku’s campaigners such as Nwuke were not in any way on the same political wavelength as the governor and lacked electoral value to attract any attention from the government.
Wike himself said at a rally in Eleme on Friday that he had approved Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt for the PDP to use for its presidential campaign.
He said rather than prepare the approved stadium for the planned rally, Sekibo, and Lee Maeba led some thugs to carry out grading work on a night on a piece of land located in the Trans-Amadi Industrial Layout belonging to the state government.
He said: “Abiye Sekibo led thugs around 12 midnight to go to Trans Amadi. The land belongs to Rivers State, and with Lee Maeba, brought bulldozers to start grading the place. That is where they want to use for the presidential rally tomorrow (Saturday). I said no, go back to the stadium. You said you have people, then you must go there (stadium)”.
Wike said it was apparent that the PCC members were reluctant to use the stadium because they do not have the capacity to mobilize enough crowd to fill up the space.
But the governor insisted that they must use the stadium for their rally.
He pledged to provide them with logistic support and service if required.
Confusion trails proposed rally
Following the development, spokesman for the Presidential Campaign Council, Dr. Leloonu Nwibubasa, said the proposed rally had been shifted from today (Saturday) to Tuesday, February 14 at 9 am.
But he was silent on the venue saying only that it would be communicated to the public in due course.
He said: “The PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Rivers State Chapter, hereby regret to announce the said postponement and plead that the general public, members of PDP and the Supporters of Atiku/Okowa Presidency bear with us on the inconveniences this adjustment in date may cause you.
“Remember to keep a date with Atiku/Okowa for a better Nigeria.”
