Explosion rocks APC secretariat in Rivers

THE All Progressives Congress in Okrika Local
Government Area of Rivers State came under
attack in the early hours of Sunday just as three
members of the party were inflicted with machete
cut injuries as they prepared for a rally in
Rumueme, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.
The APC Chairman in Okrika Local Government
Area, Mr. Christian Asifamak, who narrated how the
ground floor of a three-storey building housing the
party secretariat was attacked, explained that some
unidentified person had thrown a dynamite in the
secretariat, which exploded at about 3.14am.
Asifamaka stated that the incident occurred in
Abam Ama community, adding that his office was
worse hit as the entire wall was pulled down by
the explosion.
“In the early hours of the morning of Sunday
January 11, 2015, some unknown group of
persons threw dynamite into the party secretariat of
our party, the All Progressives Congress in Abam
Ama, Okrika Local Government Area.
“The explosion which occurred at 3:14am exactly,
destroyed our secretariat, bringing down the walls.
The damage was quite extensive with the
chairman’s office being the worse hit.
“The All Progressives Congress in Okrika views
this latest attack as a deliberate provocation by
our opponents, the People’s Democratic Party to
draw the APC into a battle that would destabilize
our beloved local government area. This is
unfortunate and the APC in Okrika would not allow
Okrika to become a hotbed of crises as the PDP
would wish,” he said.
Asifamake pointed out that the PDP’s resort to
violence was as a result of its knowledge that
Okrika people had rejected them because of their
inability to attract any meaningful development to
the LGA.
“Till now the East-West Road through which we
access our community has been left abandoned by
a PDP-led Federal Government while Governor
Chibuike Amaechi who is not an Okrika man built a
ring road in Okrika and also rebuilt the portion of
the Federal Government road that links the LGA to
the Port Harcourt refinery.
“We however wish to warn our brothers in the PDP
to remember that the land of Okrika has been
known to defend itself and its people against
aggression and that any Okrika person who brings
crisis to the land answers for it,” he added.
In Rumueme, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area,
three out of four members of the APC, who were
reported attacked with cutlasses, were rushed to
the Kesley Harrison Hospital in Port Harcourt.
The APC leader in Obio/Akpor and a House of
Representatives candidate, Chief Tony Okocha,
explained that a chief from Warri, who had come to
Rumueme to be part of the APC rally on Sunday,
was said to have been hit several times. Okocha,
who said he personally drove the three injured
members of the APC to the hospital, expressed
worry over the whereabouts of the chief.
He explained that members of the APC were almost
exhausting their patience over the continued attack
by PDP members, warning that his party may
resort to self-help should the police fail to do the
right thing.