Not a few Nigerians,
including those who do not have the gift of clairvoyance came out on the eve of the new year with horrendous revelations that the nation’s political horizon would be gloomy in the year 2014. Perhaps, what they did not tell their compatriots and the rest of the world was that the political tsunami would commence much earlier in the year.
While other Nigerians are still basking in the euphoria of a new year, drawing up plans and setting targets for themselves the people of Rivers State are daily gripped with trepidation as politicians with the connivance of Nigerian police have decided to turn the state into a battlefield.
Two weeks ago the Rivers State police commissioner, Mbu Joseph Mbu, whom Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has repeatedly accused of partisanship in the political imbroglio rocking the state reportedly ordered his men to smash a rally organised by the Save Rivers Movement (SRM), a non-governmental organisation that is in support of the governor. Consequently, the senator representing Rivers South-East, Magnus Ngei Abe was allegedly shot by the police with rubber bullets while teargas was lavishly unleashed on the organisers of the rally and members of the public.
Narrating what happened to newsmen, the hief of Staff to the state governor, Hon. Tony Okoch said: “This morning was a huge surprise to me. It was the turn of Obio/Akpor Local Governemnt to host the SRM. We had gone to Eleme and Asari-Toru LGAs. Today was the turn of Obio/Akpor council and as law-abiding citizens of Nigeria, we wrote to the police, informing them of our programme and there was no response.
“We chose the Rivers State College of Arts and Science, Rumuola, Port Harcourt because it is more expansive. It can accommodate about 10,000 persons who will come out of Obio/Akpor LGA today for the SRM’s inauguration.
“About 4.30am, our men on ground at the Rivers State College of Arts and Science who were left there to secure the gadgets and facilities to be used, called me to say that the police had taken over the place. For God’s sake, we are defenceless, free citizens of Nigeria. We do not carry arms.
“When they called me, I had to go there myself to see things. I was smoked as if I was a rabbit. I ran into someone’s house and unfortunately the man has children. They were all suffocating. They were all dying, so we have to improvise. They said we should use coke, someone said Kerosene would work. We had to use all of that to ensure that the man’s children lived. That was what I saw. I was quarantined in somebody’s house.
“As I talk to you, a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is lying critically ill in the hospital. I learnt arrangements are being made to fly him out of the country. We were together, he was even trying to make contacts with the Inspector-General of Police (IGP, Mohammed Abubakar), when they (the police) shot him point blank.
“Senator Magnus Abe was shot in the chest with rubber bullet. My own was teargas shells. If they were doing the right thing, they would not be shooting teargas and picking the shells. They knew they were doing the wrong thing.”
The state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs Ibim Seminitari said: “The Rivers State Government has it on good authority that Senator Abe took the bullet originally meant for Governor Chibuike Amaechi who was billed to be present at the event. This is disconcerting, especially in the light of recent revelations that the presidency may be training snipers ahead of 2015 elections and  Governor Amaechi is top on the list of those to be eliminated.
“The Rivers State Government wishes to request the Federal Government  and its agencies to respect the rules of engagement in their misguided fight against the people of Rivers State and especially save our nation from unnecessary chaos, into which federal agents such as Mbu want to plunge it, ahead of the 2015 election”.
Dr Mackay Anyanwu, who attended to Senator Abe had this to say: “The patient (Abe) was brought in a state of shock, as evidenced by low blood pressure. He was restless and he could not communicate or reason coherently.
As a first aid, we treated him for traumatic shock, because the implication of his state was that there was severe blood trauma and the amount of layers affected could not be detected immediately. This can only be done through the haemorrhoid.
“We have administered oxygen treatment on him for resuscitation and primary medication, but we also detected severe internal bleeding and high level of haemorrhaging in him. Another bad news is that we also detected that the affected side is showing severe swelling, which led me to the conclusion that he must have been hit by a high calibre weapon and my fears were confirmed when I was told that he was shot with a rubber bullet.
However, the Rivers State Commissioner for Police, Mbu Joseph Mbu, denied the allegation that Senator Abe was shot by his men.
Hear him” “If we used live bullets, you know the implication. If a live bullet hits your hand, it will shatter the hand and if it hits the neck, the person is gone.
“It is not time for political rallies. If groups are going to meet for empowerment, we approve and provide security. The rally was not authorised by me and so, it was disrupted. I asked policemen to subdue and take over the place. We took over the place”.
But the chairman of Save Rivers Movement (SRM), Charles Ahorlu in a press briefing displayed a copy of the application for the police permit which was duly stamped and acknowledged by the state police command. Confronted with this startling revelation Mbu and his men have advanced another reason that the command did not give approval for such gathering.
In fact, the inconsistency of the police on this matter has continued to agitate the minds of political observers in Rivers State. More worrisome is the fact that the aborted rally had been widely publicised both in print and electronic media prior to the eventful day, but the police did not deem it necessary to inform the organisers that their request was not granted. Rather, they decided to subdue and take over the place with the vile intention of sending the organisers and other law-abiding citizens within that vicinity to their early graves as teargas and rubber bullets were freely used.
Again, would it have been out of place if the police in Rivers State had gone to the venue of the rally to ensure that the event was held in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility? Certainly, no!
Indeed, Mbu is yet to convince every discerning mind in the state that he means well for the people of the state given the way and manner the police under his command have continuously undermined the authority of the chief security officer of the state, His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. The Inspector-General of Police cannot be more reasonable than members of the two chambers of the National Assembly that had investigated and deliberated on the activities of Mbu in Rivers State in the wake of the state Assembly fracas and unanimously passed a resolution for his immediate redeployment from Rivers State.
While we commend the Senate Committee on Police Affairs for coming to Rivers State to investigate the disruption of the SRM’s rally we enjoin the National Assembly to take a more decisive action by ensuring that the nation’s fledgling democracy is not  truncated following a repeat of what played out in the First Republic. A stitch in time saves nine.

 
Reward Akwu