How Senator Magnus Abe was Shot, Police Denials , APC and PDP accusations and counter accusations

                               



The Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that the attack on some sections of the Gokana Council secretariat on Monday by angry youths vindicates its earlier position that the whole story surrounding the alleged shooting of the Senator representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District, Magnus Abe, was dramatized and full of fictions.

The party said it noted with bitterness the level of desperation on the side of Governor Rotimi Amaechi and his allies which led them to hire thugs to cause obstructions to movement and activities along the Ogoni axis of the East-West Road early on Monday in a quest to draw attention to the alleged shooting of the Senator in Port Harcourt on Sunday.


The PDP said it is vindicated as the thugs who were promised N10,000 each on completion of their assignment on the road, by their employers, were disappointed with the payment of N1,000 each, an action that ignited the youths to vent their anger on the Gokana Council secretariat building, leading to the looting and massive damage of some sections of the building and vehicles parked around the vicinity.

According to the PDP, the thugs also in a bid to get the N10,000 each as promised, went  on the trail of the Gokana Council Chairman, Mr.

Ledee Demua Ledee, and the State Commissioner of Works, Chief Victor Giadom, who the hoodlums said allegedly engaged them.

PDP also said it  welcomes the resignation on Monday of the state Commissioner for Housing, Hon.

Stanley Marshall Uwom, from the Governor Amaechi's Executive Council.

The party said it believes that it is only men without courage and those who prefer to continue to act irresponsibly that will allow themselves to be tossed around by Governor Amaechi, expressing optimism that in no distant time, the governor will be left alone to hide his face in shame.


How Abe was shot

It would be recalled that a Rivers State Senator, Magnus Abe, was shot at, during a Police operation in Rivers State.
The Senator, representing Rivers Central Senatorial District, had on Sunday gone to the venue of the proposed ‘Save Rivers Movement’ rally, which was violently disrupted by the Police.
He was said to have been among the several people that were injured during the Police Operation, in which they dismantled all the canopies and stage for the event, scaring off the youths who were helping in getting things ready for the rally.
Tear gas and rubber bullets were unleashed, and the assembled crowd fled in all directions, amid the pandemonium. Reports say that the Police shot at Senator Abe, at close range, which resulted in serious injuries.
The Senator is lying critically ill in intensive care, in an hospital in Port Harcourt, with his doctor’s analysis suggesting that he may have been hit by a rubber bullet around the chest area.
It was gathered that when the movement attempted to relocate to another venue, the Civic Centre at Rumuigbo, the Police relentlessly pursued them to unleash further mayhem.
The rally had been organized by the Senator and others, who are loyalists of the State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, with whom they recently decamped to the All Progressives Congress, APC, from the People’s Democratic Party, PDP.

Police denies shooting Abe

The Rivers Police Command on Sunday denied allegations that its personnel shot and wounded a member of the National Assembly, Sen. Magnus Abe.
Its spokesman, Ahmad Muhammad, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, (DSP), told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt that the police did not dispense any bullet while dispersing a rally by Save Rivers Movement on Sunday.
He said the group was at the state College of Arts and Science for the rally when they were dispersed because they did not obtain a police permit.
“I can confirm to you that Sen. Magnus Abe was not shot. The police did not expend any single bullet while dispersing the crowd.
“It is not true. The police did not shoot the senator, we only used minimum force to disperse the crowd at the venue of the rally,’’ he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Rivers Government has alleged that Abe was shot by the police at the venue of the rally.
Mrs Ibim Semenitari, the Commissioner for information and Communications, made the accusation in a statement on Sunday in Port Harcourt.

 “Today’s attack on members of the Save Rivers Movement, a non governmental association, at the College of Arts and Science, Rumuola, Port Harcourt, Rivers State and especially the unprovoked shooting of Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, the senator representing Rivers South East senatorial district, is cause for worry and an indication of the length that the PDP is willing to go to silence opposing views.
“Rivers State Government therefore reiterates its call for the re-deployment of CP Mbu from Rivers State before he turns the state into a graveyard because of his intolerance and unprofessional behaviour,’’ she said.
The commissioner assured that the state government would continue to protect the interest of the people at all times.
“We appeal to our people to remain law abiding and not to take the laws into their own hands as we promise to continue to use all legitimate and legal means to guarantee the safety of our people and their rights to exist in Nigeria,’’ she said.
The Press Secretary to Sen. Abe, Mr Honour Sirawoo, said a rubber bullet hit Abe on the chest and was taken to hospital for treatment.
He said Abe had gone to supervise the preparations for the rally when the incident occurred at about 9.00 am on Sunday.
Dr Mckay Anyanwu, Medical Director of Krisany Hospital, where Abe was rushed to for treatment, told newsmen that the senator was brought to the hospital in a state of shock caused by low blood pressure.
“He was unable to talk or eat, and he was feeling restless as a result of traumatic shock.
“The implication is that there is haemorrhage; this is a blood trauma, it is not a sharp one,’’ he said. (NAN).

APC Says Senator Abe Was Target of Police Shooting in Rivers

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked President Goodluck Jonathan
to urgently put an end to what it termed the worsening reign of impunity
in Rivers State.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its Interim National Publicity
Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the call has become even
more imperative, following the irresponsible act of brigandage by the
police, which stopped a rally billed for the Obio Akpor Local Government
Area of the state today by the Save Rivers Movement (SRM).
”The police went to the venue of the rally, pulled down the erected
canopies and fired tear gas at everyone around there and even into nearby
homes, with the result that five children are now feared to have died from
suffocation due to this shameful Gestapo-style action of the police, who
are being funded by taxpayers to protect the lives and property of the
same citizens they are now brutalizing and killing.
”Not only that, they injured the Chief of Staff to Gov. Chibuike Amaechi
and fired a supposed rubber bullet, at point blank range, at Senator
Magnus Abe, who is now gravely injured. The Senator is believed to have
been deliberately targeted for attack by the police,” the APC alleged in
the statement.
However, the Rivers Police Command on Sunday denied allegations that its
personnel shot and wounded a member of the National Assembly, Sen. Magnus
Abe.
Its spokesman, Ahmad Muhammad, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, (DSP),
said the police did not dispense any bullet while dispersing a rally by
Save Rivers Movement on Sunday.
He said the group was at the state College of Arts and Science for the
rally when they were dispersed because they did not obtain a police
permit.
“I can confirm to you that Sen. Magnus Abe was not shot. The police did
not expend any single bullet while dispersing the crowd.
“It is not true. The police did not shoot the senator, we only used
minimum force to disperse the crowd at the venue of the rally,’’ he said.
The Rivers Government earlier alleged that Abe was shot by the police at
the venue of the rally.

Different sources led by NAN, Point blanknews and Daily Post as well as Channels