Edith CHUKU
Officers of the Rivers State Police command and protesters clashed on Monday, at the CFC flyover in Port Harcourt, during a peaceful demonstration in demand for the reinstatement of all democratically elected political office holders.
The protesters, under the aegis of Civil Society Organisations, and Niger Delta Congress, took off from Isaac Boro Park down to CFC, where they met resistance from operatives of the State Police command.
The coalition of civil organizations against bad government policies were attacked by police officers who tried to disperse them with canister.
The protesting natives and residents of the state accused security operatives of shooting sporadically, which they said led to a gun shot wound on the leg of one of them who was rushed to the hospital for urgent treatment.
Insisting that they will reconvene for another protest to push their demands, the organisers urged Nigerians to demand their rights.
They expressed dismay that democratically elected office holders were suspended and slammed the involvement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Senator President, God’swill Akpabio and the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
The youths warned against every act of dictatorship, insisting that nobody would stop them from demanding that the right thing be done through protest.
Addressing newsmen after they had ran to safety, one of the organisers of the protest, Mr Chetam Nwala explained that, “first of all we converged at Isaac Boro Park for the protest, you know it’s a nation wide protest, it’s not just in Rivers State and amongst other things there were other demands we had made.
“The police initially tried stopping us. Before now, we had an agreement with the police that we were going to converge and stay at the Isaac Boro Park with an approval from the commissioner of police.
“Now, haven given us that approval we went to Isaac Boro Park but the police came back and said no we cannot stay at Isaac Boro Park that we should leave, but we told them we have a written approval from the police and that we had to continue with the protest. At a point they allowed us and the officer in charge now allowed us to go ahead to protest that they are going to provide us with police security, we started processing from the Isaac Boro Park.
“When we moved from Isaac Boro Park and got to CFC, they came in a war format, extra vehicles and vans and all that and blocked us and the same officer came and said that we have made a statement we should leave that we have granted press, we have done enough procession that we should go, we said no that we have not even started what we had envisaged that we had other plans to proceed and we also have a route to follow.
“He said no that we must leave now. The next thing they started doing, they started shooting teargas canisters on us, of course it was a joint team, both the army, the police, the civil defense, they were all there.
“The next thing they started shooting sporadically on the air, police started shooting teargas canisters on us, even arrested some of the reporters who came to cover the event. Shot at the leg of one of the protesters, shot at his leg, he is currently hospitalized as we speak and it’s actually sad and unfortunately.”
Nwala emphasized that, “the truth of the matter is that we must all realize that we are all Nigerians, no body is more Nigerian than the other. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not more Nigerian than any of us, he is only privileged to be our president and he cannot lead us in dictatorship, we will not stand and watch, we have a right to speak as a people, you cannot hold down our voice, protest is an international right of citizens of this world so you cannot stop it.
” We condemn what has happened today in Rivers State and it’s a shame on Nigerian government that Nigerian government will be shooting at its citizens for protesting and demanding for good governance.
“Right now they want to silence the voice of reasonability, they want to silence the voice of citizens but we will say no to it, we will continue to resist it even if it takes our life, we will continue to resist it.”
Also speaking, the immediate past spokesperson for the coalition of Rivers State civil society organisations, Mr. Solomon Lenu condemned the action of the police officers against the protesters.
Lenu said, “if Nigerians are still thinking that we have a country, we have a democracy, I am here to announce to you that you are seriously dreaming.
“This democracy that our people fought for, died for has automatically ended and we are under a full blown dictatorship. It’s even a shame that a person who claimed to be a pro-democratic president, who had always pride himself to had fought for this democracy in the person of Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be the president and will action the kind of things that is happening here today in Rivers State.
“As we speak to you today, what happened here in Rivers State, is an instruction given to the sole administrator of Rivers State, the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria has been abandoned and this country now is being ruled by the whips and caprices of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, God’swill Akpabio and his cohort, Nyesom Wike, the FCT Minister.
“But we are here to tall Rivers people that freedom is not free anywhere in the world. Today we are here, a democratic government that was elected by the people has been suspended and every other institutions of government in Rivers State and people are sitting down doing nothing, thinking everything will be fine.”
He urged Nigerians to fight for democracy and their rights. On the way forward, he assured that, “they will reconvene and continue to push this demand that all the right things be done.
“It is not over, we are coming back again.”
