Rivers LG Chairmen, Others Protest Harassment

There was traffic gridlock at the ever busy Azikiwe Road leading to Government House , Port Harcourt and Moscow Road as thousands of supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) protested alleged police harassment and intimidation.
The protesters who also marched to the police headquarters, Moscow Road where a petition was handed over to the police commissioner, Mr Dan Bature.
The protesters made up of prominent leaders of the party including commissioners and local government council chairmen as well as youth, condemned the continuous incarceration of Mr Charles Anyanwu, the caretaker chairman of Etche Local Government Area and four others by the Rivers State police command.
The protesters who were also joined by Tony Okocha,the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt and the party’s candidate for the Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives marched to the Police Headquarters, Moscow Road demanding for fair treatment.
The protest started at about 7:00 a.m. with protesters trekking along Port Harcourt/Aba road to the Police headquarters.
The peaceful protest almost went restive when Police trucks drove menacingly through the crowd of protesters to disperse them. However, nobody was hurt.
The peaceful protest was taken to the state headquarters of the Department of State Services, DSS, where complaints were registered.
Commissioner of Agriculture and chieftain of APC, Emmanuel Chinda,  said the protest was to bring to the fore the pre-2006 era when the state was overtaken by militants, ethnic militias and gun bearing criminals who had the backing of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
He said after the botched APC rally in Okrika that led to the killing of a serving policeman and injury of 50 others, no one had been arrested. “Are the Police in Rivers State an arm of PDP, especially now we are about go for an election?”
Addressing newsmen, the chairman of Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) Rivers State , Hon Oji Ngofa Oji accused the police of taking  sides with the PDP against the APC and urged the police to end its incessant harassment and arrest of APC members in the state.
He urged the police to immediately release the  caretaker chairman of Etche Local Government Area, Hon Charles Anyanwu.
The ALGON chairman also wondered why no one was  arrested in the shooting incident in Okrika during an APC rally which led to the  death of a policeman and urged the police to maintain neutrality in its handling of issues in the state.

APC Governorship candidate in Rivers State, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, speaking with Ogoni Chiefs during his ward to ward campaign rally in Khana Local Government Area, yesterday