High Court Blasts, Politically Motivated …Lawyers, Litigants Desert Courts – RSG

The Rivers State Government has described the bombing of the Ahoada and Okehi High Courts in Rivers State as politically motivated.

The State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs Ibim Semenitari, who disclosed this at a press briefing on Monday in Port Harcourt, also finered the member representing Ogu/Bolo Constituency in the House of Assembly, Hon. Evans Bipi and Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike as being responsible for the incident.

Semenitari said that the State government had a reason to suspect the two men as the activities of the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI) has caused serious security concerns in recent times in the state.

The Commissioner further said that the government was worried over the manner in which the security agencies were handling the matter.

Semenitari, however, stressed the need for the security agencies to keep politics aside and protect the people of Rivers State.

Also speaking, the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Hon. Worgu Boms said that the bombings of the two courts were to induce fear in the judiciary as well as attack the people.

Hon. Boms, who urged security agencies to rise up to the challenges of protecting the citizenry of the state, also tasked politicians in the state to desist from indulging in violence to achieve their aim.

Similarly, the Special Adviser to the state Governor on project monitoring, Barrister Nnamdi Okere, described the bombing of the Okehi High Court as a very disturbing incident.

Okere said that the motive behind the bombing of the Okehi High Court was to erase the judgement of the court against the Felix Obuah-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and urged those behind the dastardly act to look up to God.

Meanwhile, the Rivers State Police Command has said that dynamites were used for both the Ahoada and Okehi blasts.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Mohammed Ahmed, who said this in a telephone interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt, also said that no arrests have been made.

The incident at the Ahoada High Court affected the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) building, while documents and other court files were destroyed by the incident at Okehi High Court.

Meanwhile, following the  bomb blast that hit the premises of the Ahoada High Court on Monday, judiciary workers, lawyers and litigants are still weary to reports to duties.

Apart from three people who claimed  they came to transact business in the court, the premises was without the usual bubbling of litigants, and their counsels.

There was no single police man in the premises, a situation that scared workers and even the judge from coming to work, as he cited  security reasons.

A senior staff of the court who chose to be anonymous because of security reasons, told The Tide, that on  resumption of duty on the fateful day, he discovered a polyethylene bag that was carefully wrapped and dropped close to the entrance to the court room.

According to him,  there was another similar thing at the back of the court room,

“I then drew the attention of some policemen that brought prisoners to court, and they, on close examination, discovered that it was a bomb,” he said.

“Immediately all the litigants, their counsels, staff of the court and other visitors were asked to leave the premises while anti-bomb squad police unit was invited.  The squad came two hours later.They searched the entire premises and also went to the Judge’s quarters to search”, he added.

The source also disclosed that 20 cases were listed for hearing on the fateful day, among which was the one involving the Speaker of Rivers State of Assembly and the five renegade Assembly members.

He said it was later discovered that two bombs had earlier at about 2 am exploded, causing some damage  on the ceiling and window glasses of the court’s computer room.

The Tide further gathered that the bomb experts who took the parcels away, claimed that the remnants  could not explode because they were faulty.

One Okpara Cyprian, who lives close to the court, said he heard a loud explosion at about 1 am, and another one 30minutes later, and showed The Tide cracks on his wall, which he claimed was caused by the explosion.

The Tide also gathered that last year, thieves visited the court on several occasions while efforts to bring in policemen to guard the  premises were not successful because of “unreasonable demands” from the police authorities.

L-R: British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr Andrew Pocock; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. Anyim Pius Anyim; President Goodluck Jonathan and Minister of Special Duties, Alhaji Tanimu Turaki, during the arrival of torch of the 20th Commonwealth Games, Glasgow 2014 in Abuja on Monday.