The All Progressives Congress, APC, 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, 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.
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