by ‘Jola Sotubo

The tension in Rivers yesterday erupted into violence in the Emohua Local Government Area of the state.

The state has been besieged with constant crises following the disagreements between the Governor, Rotimi Amaechi and the Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mbu and also trouble within the State House of Assembly.

The latest fracas is said to have been caused by a clash between some supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and those of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Leadership reports:

It was gathered that one of the properties destroyed during the clash was the secretariat of the local government chapter of the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI), a pressure group established by the supervising minister of education, Chief Nyesom Wike.

An eyewitness told LEADERSHIP on the condition of anonymity that trouble started when some unknown gunmen fired gunshots into the local government secretariat field, venue of a rally organised by the APC, in an attempt to disrupt the function.

According to the eyewitness, supporters of the APC, mostly youths, accused former chairman of the local government council and presently the director-general (Operations) of the Felix Obuah-led PDP in the state, Hon. Chukuwemeka Woke, of being the brains behind the shooting.

Their attempt to retaliate the incident led to the destruction of GDI secretariat.

When contacted, Woke denied involvement in the shooting at the APC rally, saying the scenario was created by the APC members to give them the opportunity to vandalise the GDI secretariat, which was opened by Wike, who is the patron of the group.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Ahmed Mohammed, said he was not aware of the clash between supporters of the two political parties.