One killed as explosion rocks Port Harcourt during protest

A middle-aged protester among the pro-Wike group on Tuesday was reportedly killed by an explosion during a solidarity protest march for Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike.

The incident which caused pandamonium was said to have happened in front of Hotel Presidential in the heart of Port Harcourt.

The victim, whose identity is yet to be confirmed, was among protesters mobilised by top political leaders from the different wards of Obio/Akpor showing their solidarity for the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike in a protest march.

The 23 former local government chairmen have mobilised their supporters to protest the continued occupation by the different local government secretariats following the disagreement emanating between them and the Rivers State government over the expiration of their tenure and the appointment of caretaker committee to replace them.

An eyewitness account, the corpse of the victim was taken away hurriedly as security agents trooped to the location where the incident occurred.

The eye witness who refused to give his name for security reasons said the procession was led by Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Ogundu Chinda, Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule, and former Council Chairman, George Ariolu.

The procession is the Obio/Akpor Local Government version as similar processions had been held in the Port Harcourt City and Ikwerre local government areas with similar messages to the police.

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The Obio/Akpor protesters later converged at the Rumueme Civic Center in Port Harcourt, where they demanded that the Inspector General of Police continue to occupy the councils and not succumb to any form of intimidation.

While addressing the crowd, outgoing chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, George Ariolu said they were in support of peace and order in the state.

He said, “As the governor said, there is no sacrifice too much for peace. But there is no peace without justice. You must govern by the rule of law. Therefore, we are in support of governance by law not by discretion, not by impunity.

“Rivers is state that complies with law and order. We are in support of the position of the Nigerian police. The inspector general under President Tinubu, has the right to bring peace to Rivers State, even when there are provocative actions that could lead to the breakdown of law and order.

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“And so for us, we want to encourage the inspector general and his men, to continue to bring peace and order to Rivers state.

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We want to call on all, to abide by the rule of law. Let public office holders understand that they must obey the law and order. And as a people, we are taking a peaceful walk of the local government this morning, to talk to the people, and to demonstrate our support for peace and order.”

It was the same message that his counterpart in Ikwerre local government area, Samuel Nwanosike led his own supporters to give the Area Commander of the police with his team at the council secretariat at Isiokpo.

He was seen addressing the police and the crowd encouraging the police to maintain their occupation of the secretariats as he claimed that his tenure as the chairman of the council still has a little above 5 months to expire having been extended according to him by the Amaewhule-led state house of assembly.