SCORES
of Ogoni people took to the streets in Port Harcourt on Thursday to
protest the endorsement of a member of the House of Representatives , Mr. Dakuku Peterside, as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress. Peterside was on Wednesday chosen as the APC governorship candidate in
Rivers State ahead of the member representing Rivers South-East in the
National Assembly, Senator Magnus Abe, a native of Ogoniland.
The lawmaker representing Andoni/Opobo/ Nkoro Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives emerged as the party’s consensus governorship candidate during a stakeholders’ meeting.
But the people of Ogoni, who were mainly youths, vowed that they would
not accept the verdict of the stakeholders and advised the leader of the
party and the state Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, to rescind the
decision and conduct a governorship primary.
The youths had marched
through the popular Azikiwe Road to the main gate of the Government
House in Port Harcourt, insisting that the governor betrayed Ogoni by
‘anointing’ Peterside as the governorship candidate of the APC.
The
protesters, who had earlier blocked major points of the East-West Road
in Eleme Local Government Area, chanted war songs, even as some of them
threw stones that damaged some vehicles parked near the Government
House.
It took the intervention of policemen, who shot sporadically
into the air to disperse the protesters, a development that forced banks
on Azikiwe Road to close temporarily.
Customers, who were inside
the banks, were not allowed to move out while those intending to come in
were asked to go back as a result of the deafening sound of gunshots
from security operatives.
The police also fired tear-gas canisters
to disperse the surging crowd of protesters, who maintained that they
would continue to protest until the governor changed his mind on the
choice of governorship candidate.
Endy Edeson
sO @CASH: are you okay with APC adopting Consensus Candidate instead of Primaries in bringing their candidates in Rivers State
Enyinda Nathaniel Okey
whatever
stand the party or any party takes... if it is the agreement of the
people, no wahala... I think problem is making a detour at the middle of
the road