Crime
Several people injured as explosion rocks APC rally in Port-Harcourt
A twin explosion on Thursday afternoon left three persons injured at a rally of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the Rumu-Woji Playground, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
It was gathered that no fewer than three persons, mostly women, were injured in the incident that occurred. Those hurt have been rushed to the hospital for medical attention.
Though the actual cause of the explosion was not known, it was gathered that there was a disagreement between youths of Rumuji community that owned the Igboukwu field where APC scheduled its rally.
The youths were said to have stopped the party from holding the rally at the field as they barricaded and shut the entrance of the facility.
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A source, who spoke in confidence said: “There was an explosion suspected to be dynamite. The explosion came with a loud bang and some people were injured. The party officials had an altercation with the youths of the community over access to the venue of the rally before the explosion occurred”.
Nwauju said enemies of democracy were using all sorts of underhand strategies to frustrate opposition political parties in Rivers.
He called on the National Security Adviser, the Department of State Security (DSS) and the police to intervene and stamp out politically sponsored violence.
The Rivers Police Public Relations Officer, Grace Iringe-Koko, however, said the police were not aware of the explosion, explaining that it was a fight between the APC and the community.
She said: “The command is not aware of any explosion. It was a fight between the community people. The APC I think applied for a community hall and the CDC chairman has a faction where some persons benefited while others didn’t.
“They were asking the APC people to pay part of the money so that they could use the hall. The altercation within the community led to the fight and two persons were injured. We don’t know if there were other political parties involved in the fight. The CP has mandated the state CID to investigate it”.
