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The five Rivers State House of Assembly members who on Tuesday announced the impeachment of Speaker Otelemaba Dan-Amachree and his replacement with Evans Babakaya Bipialaka have vowed never to retreat or surrender despite the crisis precipitated by their action. The ultimate aim of the G5 group of legislators loyal to Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, is believed to be the impeachment of Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.

Speaking with newsmen yesterday in Port Harcourt, Bipialaka said they turned up to commence sitting but could not access the Assembly Complex as it had been sealed off by heavily armed security operatives.

“We will come back tomorrow (today) to commence sitting,” he vowed.

Another member of the G5, Hon. Kelechi Worgu, made a similar vow yesterday morning in a telephone chat with a Port Harcourt-based radio station, declaring: “The battle has just started. Any how we must sit.”

The House has 33 members and the five fall far short of the required two-third majority required to impeach the Speaker and install a new one.

To forestall a repeat of what happened on Tuesday when the lawmakers brawled, leaving some seriously injured, soldiers yesterday took over the Assembly Complex even as the country’s House of Representatives voted to suspend the Rivers House and temporarily assume its functions.

The presence of the soldiers prevented both sides and their supporters who crowded the vicinity from accessing the Assembly Complex. The police, on their part, access roads to complex.

•Photon courtesy Vanguard, shows soldiers on guard to prevent any of the opposing sides from accessing the Rivers State House of Assembly.

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